Gujarat - BJP At The Helm?

The ‘Gujarat model’ that is much hyped by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to evolve towards what its critics term as dystopian heights. The latest in this journey is the poll on the Surat parliamentary seat on which the BJP candidate was declared victorious unopposed.

The message being given out is that the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state, often termed as the ‘laboratory of Hindutva’, is a one sided affair for the BJP. It is important to understand how this perception was brought about.

Why is it that in the last two decades the elections, whether Parliamentary or Assembly, have continued to become colourless and dull? Why is it that those outside Gujarat only got to read and see what the BJP or Sangh Parivar affiliates have wanted them to believe? How is it that even things that appear to be going wrong for the BJP are actually working to its advantage?

There is a lot that is happening beyond the reportage that is also not supposed to be seen and reported. One can start with the Surat ‘victory’. The BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed, which observers say is like taking the ‘Samrasta’ concept of electing representatives unanimously without any contest to new levels.

“There are too many questions around this development. Even if the Congress candidate’s nomination was rejected, how was the withdrawal of the remaining seven candidates achieved?

“The manner in which the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Pyarelal Bharti was allegedly made to withdraw funds was reported in the local media but things go beyond it. One needs to factor that even if one candidate would have remained in fray the Congress and others might have thrown their weight behind him.

“Besides he would have got the votes of the common people who might have been annoyed with the developments around the withdrawals. Who knows such incidents might get reported from other states as well where nominations are yet to be filed and scrutinised,” Rathin Das, a veteran political observer based in Ahmedabad pointed out. Das has been chronicling the political journey of the state for the past three decades.

Those studying the political trajectory of the state point out that the perceptions around the narratives being built that the polls are one sided, or there are no takers for the opposition.

“To begin with, the embedded media has been turning a blind eye to whatever is happening on the ground. They are dishing out either table top stories laden with past statistics, and refusing to take into account whatever the opposition or the common citizens want to say.

“Second, the scenario is such that a large number of critics are even scared to express themselves on social media. On one side they stand targeted by the troll armies of the right wing ecosystem and on the other there is always the fear of being booked. The threat of Police action is often used to get news stories removed from the digital platforms,” Dilip Patel, an independent journalist based in Ahmedabad disclosed. He has worked across the media spectrum in the state and has been a critical voice for a long time.

A case being cited is that of a suspended accountant of the state finance department Gulabsha Jadeja that is reportedly being heard in the Gujarat High Court. Jadeja had challenged charges of ‘jihadi’ and ‘anti national’ levelled against him for a social media post.

The High Court had reportedly told the state government to be careful with its words. The petitioner had stated that the allegations followed by his suspension and arrest were a part of a conspiracy to prevent him from appearing in a competitive exam conducted by the Gujarat Public Service Commission.

“Even the criticism that is encouraged to be reported is after a calculation of eventually working to the advantage of the ruling party. For example the ongoing Kshatriya protests against the party candidate and union minister in Rajkot Parshottam Rupala, is not being countered at any level. It is helping in a reverse consolidation of Patels which those sitting outside Gujarat are unable to factor. Besides, not all Kshatriyas are on the same page,” Patel added.

There were some interesting points raised when this reporter reached out to observers in the tribal parts of south and central Gujarat. They said that the anti-BJP votes were never eradicated from this belt but some factors have led to this belief.

They added that the landslide victory on tribal seats by the BJP candidates in the last Assembly seats was because of the split in the Opposition votes between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

They further said that away from the media glare is the public sentiment that is largely against the policies of the BJP government in the state.

“There is the case of the fake government offices scam that came to light just a few months back where large amounts of money meant for public welfare was allegedly syphoned off in Chhota Udepur district. There were ten arrests in the matter. The fake offices were reportedly operating for several years. There is a lot of anger among the tribals over this issue,” social activist Anand Mazgaonkar, who has been travelling across the tribal pockets, said.

“Apart from the activists, if there is someone talking about saving the Constitution, reservations, Forest Rights Act (FRA) implementation, Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act or the rights under fifth and sixth schedule, it is the tribals and the Dalits. It does not matter what their level of education is.

“These words are empowering to them and their consciousness and awareness about them has been increasing over the years. No one in the urban areas is talking about these things. There they would be talking about rise in cooking gas prices or inflation in general,” Mazgaonkar added.

“There may not be issues of mining in these parts but there is definitely no dearth of other issues. There is the issue of the shoddy implementation of the FRA, the land rights and the opposition to the privatisation of health facilities and services. There was resistance to the Par-Tapi-Narmada river interlinking scheme that the government was compelled to shelve,” he added.

The movement against the Par-Tapi-Narmada scheme was led by Anant Patel, the lone Congress MLA in south Gujarat, who represents Vansda seat. He is contesting the Lok Sabha polls on Valsad seat and has a strong support base in the rural tribal assembly constituencies of Vansda, Ahwa, Kaprada and Dharampur.

The remaining three Assembly constituencies that fall in this parliamentary seat are Valsad, Pardi and Umbergaon. The contest between Anant Patel and Dhaval Patel of the BJP is something to watch out for.

Similarly, Chaitar Vasava, the AAP candidate on Bharuch seat is also posing a stiff challenge to Mansukh Vasava of the BJP. He is also banking on support from the tribal pockets of Dediapada, Jhagadia, Jambusar and Vagra.

Sources say that he has a ‘sympathy factor’ in his favour as his supporters are sending out the message that he was framed as a part of a political conspiracy in a case of assault and extortion and was put behind bars late last year. This 37-year-old MLA from Dediapada was granted bail after 48 days, in January this year.

The Congress is livid over the perception being created in Saurashtra and North Gujarat that the party has hung up its gloves. The perception found traction in some of the Congress candidates going in for crowdfunding.

“This is a malicious attempt by the BJP leadership with the help of its propaganda machinery. We are very much in the fight whether it is Surendranagar, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Porbandar, Rajkot or Anand.

“Even the AAP candidate who represents the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) in Bhavnagar is well placed,” chief Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, said.

“It is true that the party is in crisis financially as the government has tried to create hurdles for us at every level using all the tactics. Our resources have been stopped and legally blocked.

“Our candidates in places like Porbandar and Banaskantha have gone in for crowd funding since they were short on resources after incurring costs while contesting the assembly polls as well.

“But isn’t crowd funding an effective mode of public outreach? The people coming out to donate for the campaign reflects their seriousness as well as support for the party candidates,” he added.

Then off course is the Hindutva factor. “The Ram Mandir issue coupled with an anti Muslim narrative is bound to draw cheers from the public that has been fed on hate for decades. The sad part is that people look out for such narratives and speeches with glee,” pointed another political observer based in Surat.

Meanwhile, the BJP has largely been campaigning around Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s persona as Gujarat is his home turf. There are messages being sent out saying, “Kalyug ma ekaj vastu ni guarantee che, ane ae chhe Modi ni guarantee (In Kalyug there is guarantee of only one thing and that is Modi’s guarantee).”

The Saffron party is playing up the Bullet train project, the Chandrayan project etc along with ‘development’ in individual cities. This goes alongside the allegations and counter allegations that continue on a daily basis.

The party leaders are also organising ‘samajik sammelans’ (social conclaves) of different communities to drum up support for the candidates fielded by the BJP.