Ahmedabad: The newspaper advertisements by the BJP these days in Gujarat say "Lets vote a Gujarati to be India's prime minister" and it sums up the political mood in the state ahead of the voting day when all 26 seats go to polls on April 30. It's all about Narendra Modi and after all the most popular politician today is contesting from Vadodara.
Moreover, BJP's senior-most leader LK Advani is contesting from Gandhinagar and pre-poll surveys have suggested a sweep for the party in Gujarat.
But to write off the Congress completely in the state would be erroneous, even though the party claims it will win more seats than the BJP in the state. The Congress is likely to put up a good show in at least five or six seats and may even win these.
To begin with, the twin neighbouring seats of Kheda and Anand in central Gujarat are expected to see close fights. Veteran Congress leader Dinsha Patel has been fielded again from Kheda and Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki, son of former Gujarat chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki, is contesting from the Anand seat. The BJP has fielded sitting MLAs from Anand and Kheda - Dilip Patel and Devusinh Chauhan respectively. Patel is into his fourth term as an MLA and Chauhan into his third. A matter for worry though for the Congress is that Dinsha Patel had said on television that he did not want to contest, but said he was keen to contest at the eleventh hour.
The Congress is also expected to win the tribal dominated Bardoli seat in south Gujarat as well. Union minister Tushar Chaudhary is pitted against Prabhu Vasava of the BJP. Interestingly, Vasava quit as the Congress MLA just three months ago and was given a BJP ticket right away. The move has angered BJP tribal leaders from south Gujarat who were vying for the ticket.
One seat that most people, including BJP leaders, have agreed over is the Sabarkantha seat in north Gujarat. Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela is expected to win the seat comfortably. The same is being said about Congress's Somabhai Patel of Surendranagar and he is expected to score yet another win. He is pitted this time against Devjibhai Fatehpara of the BJP.
Close contests are also on the cards in the twin seats of Panchmahals and Dahod in eastern Gujarat. There has been discontent against sitting BJP MP Prabhatsinh Chauhan and the Congress has fielded former Amul chairman Ramsinh Parmar to garner the votes of the milk co-operatives of the region. In neighbouring Dahod, it's almost an equal fight for the tribal dominated votes. MP Prabhaben Taviyad is up against BJP MLA and state minister Jaswant Bhabhor.
Modi has started campaigning in Gujarat only in the last week before polls. He is frantically criss-crossing the state and especially those constituencies where the BJP is perceived to be weak, in a bid to win as many seats as possible. As far as the Congress is concerned, top leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have held rallies too, and have taken shots at the Gujarat model of development.
Its now time for voters to decide because every seat counts. They count more for the BJP in Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.
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