Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 27: With four days to go for the first of the two phase polling in the Gujarat Assembly elections, the electioneering has reached its peak with top leaders of the three main contending parties making a beeline to woo the voters.
Both the prime minister Narendra Modi and the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal were campaigning in Gujarat on Sunday for the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party respectively while some senior leaders of the Congress were also in the state.
But even as both the Congress and the AAP are making public claims of forming the next government, the two parties may end up only vying for which of them would be the second best with the BJP seems well set to retain power in the state that it is ruling for the last 27 years. The question upper most is whether it will perform better than 2017 when the BJP barely managed to scrape through winning only 99 seats, seven seats more than absolute majority.
The Congress which had ended up with 77 seats, its best performance since 1998 elections, is this time also facing a threat from the AAP which is likely to take away a large chunk of anti-BJP votes making the run still easier for the saffron party. For the AAP, which last time contested only a few seats and ended up at zero, has this time thrown its entire mite putting up candidates for all the 182 seats.
Congress, which was so far the primary challenger to the BJP in the state but now faces a new threat in AAP, has said AAP has a lot of “hype” but will remain a “marginal player.” The grand old party is carrying out a very localised, personalised, and orthodox campaign as there is a very “strong undercurrent” of anti-incumbency against the state government, Congress leader Milind Deora, who is the party’s observer for Gujarat polls, had earlier said.
Both Modi and Kejriwal were in Surat in south Gujarat on Sunday which is going to polls in the first phase on December 1. Surat has traditionally swayed towards the ruling BJP, with textile and diamond merchants backing the party, along with lakhs of people associated with the sectors in the business hub. But the AAP saw new hopes in Gujarat only after it won 27 seats in the Surat municipal corporation elections against zero by the Congress though it could not overthrow the BJP from power in the civic body.
“We will form the government in Gujarat and win over 92 seats. We will implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in Gujarat by January 31, 2023,” Kejriwal said predicting AAP’s clear victory. “In the upcoming election, for the first time, a large number of BJP voters will vote for the AAP,” he added.
“The AAP will form the government in Gujarat. People fear the BJP. The Congress is not on the political battlefield. We will end the outsourcing of employees (practice of engaging workers on contract) in government departments. We will implement the Old Pension Scheme in Gujarat.” “Seeing the acceptance enjoyed by the AAP in Gujarat, BJP leaders are unhappy and shocked. As a result, they have started attacking AAP workers,” Kejriwal said, adding that the BJP is staring at defeat in Gujarat.
Both the Congress and the AAP accused the BJP of “copying” their respective manifestos in making election promises to the people even when the prime minister had decried giving “revdis” (freebies) to woo voters at the time of the elections without bothering to know from where the fund would be located to honour the promises.
The BJP on Saturday released its election manifesto, promising “complete implementation” of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) — which will end religion based laws — in the state if the party retained power. It has also promised to start an “anti-radicalisation cell” against ‘anti-national elements’ and creation of 20 lakh jobs.
It has drawn sharp criticism from the Congress and the AAP, for its “striking commonalities” with the sops and guarantees promised by them. While unveiling the manifesto, the BJP’s national president JP Nadda said, “We have done what was promised and we have also done things which were not talked about. So our words have strength… A lot of political parties are making big announcements. Why won’t they do so? They will not come to power and so they can show any type of dreams. But if BJP says something, then it is not said lightly. We make all preparations, do due diligence, make calculations and we recognise the needy and their requirements.” The BJP has also invited “suggestions” from people over its manifesto.
The AAP candidate from Varachha, Alpesh Kathiriya, charged that the BJP manifesto was a “xerox copy” of the AAP guarantees. “This is not your Agresar (progressive) Gujarat but your peechheyhat (retreating) BJP, he had claimed.
Targeting the BJP, Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia said, “When we announce our guarantees, the BJP calculates cost and tells us where will you get the money from.”
The BJP manifesto promises to provide free medical treatment by doubling the cap of Pradhan Mantri Jan Aryogya Yojana to Rs 10 lakh from the existing Rs 5 lakh. The Congress has also promised a Rs 10 lakh free medical health cover to all citizens.
While the BJP has promised two free LPG cylinders annually for women under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the Congress has pledged subsidised cylinders at Rs 500 per unit. Gujarat Congress spokesman Manish Doshi says, “The Congress manifesto announced well in advance forced the BJP to focus on education and health. Their promises follow ours. In 2012, when we announced the ‘Ghar nu Ghar scheme (promising houses to voters)’ the BJP promised to build 50 lakh houses.”
Doshi pointed out that the BJP manifesto was “silent” on farmer debts, inflation, maritime security and a spurt in economic crimes in Gujarat. The Congress has pledged to write off farmers debt up to Rs 3 lakh each in the state, while the figure promised in this regard by the AAP is Rs 2 lakh. Both the Congress and the AAP have promised electricity to farmers during daytime for irrigation purposes.
As part of their poll pledges, both the Congress and the AAP have promised 300 units of free electricity for people, which the BJP has not done. Similarly, while both the Opposition parties have promised scrapping of the controversial land resurvey carried out by the BJP government, the saffron party’s manifesto remains silent on this matter.
The BJP has promised to generate 20 lakh new jobs in the next five years, while the Congress and the AAP have promised to fill 10 lakh vacancies in the state government’s departments and PSUs. The Congress pledged to regularise contractual government employees. Both the Congress and the AAP have also promised to provide unemployment allowance to jobless youth, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and strict action against those involved in leaking papers of government recruitment examinations.
All the three parties have promised assistance for cows and livestock. While the BJP in its manifesto pledges rolling out “Pashu Aadhar cards” and subsidised cattle feed for calves, the Congress has promised Rs 5,000 for every family seeking to buy a cow. The AAP has promised Rs 40 per day for maintenance of each cow in the state.
