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<p><strong>Gujarat elections 2022:</strong> Gujarat went into state assemble polls earlier this month where the first phase elections were held on December 1 and the second phase elections took place on December 5. Now, all eyes are set on the election results day. The incumbent BJP party is looking forward to reclaiming the CM throne. Also, the election debutante Aam Aadami Party (AAP) is also hopeful of tasting victory on some of the assembly seats. Even though exit polls indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win the election and take power in Gujarat, the full picture won't become clear until the Election Commission of India releases the results on December 8.</p>

<h2><strong>Gujarat elections 2022 results date and time</strong></h2>

<p>The Gujarat elections 2022 results will be announced on December 8, Thursday.&nbsp;Vote counting will start on Thursday at 8 AM. Initial trends will be visible after the counting starts. However a clear picture will begin to emerge only from 10 AM onward. The vote counting will take place on 37 locations around the state. Votes of all 182 assembly seats will be counted the same day.</p>

<h2><strong>Where to watch Gujarat elections 2022 results livestream and broadcast channels</strong></h2>

<p>Live updates for the Gujarat Assembly Election Result in 2022 will be accessible on all Zee media websites and news channels. The election results will also be Live streamed on ZEE5 OTT service. Additionally, one can keep an eye on results at results.eci.gov.in, the Election Commission of India’s official website.</p>

<p>Gujarat hosted the first of two phases of the state's assembly elections in all 33 districts on December 1 and December 5. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) entered the election arena for the first time this year, making Gujarat's election a three-cornered race. Traditionally, BJP and Congress have been fighting for the power in state.</p>

<h2><strong>Previous election&nbsp;results in Gujarat:</strong></h2>

<p>In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won 99 seats and the Congress 77 seats. The BTP won two seats, the NCP won one, and three seats went to independent candidates. Any party crossing the magical number of 92 is declared winner. After 20 MLAs who won on Congress seats in the last five years switched to the BJP, three of them resigned just before the elections, the BJP had 110 members in the House and the Congress had 60. Before the 2022 elections, BJP had 110 members in the House after 20 MLAs of Congress switched to the BJP and three of them resigned. Congress had 60 members in the state assembly.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Gujarat elections 2022: Gujarat went into state assemble polls earlier this month where the first phase elections were held on December 1 and the second phase elections took place on December 5.

Gujarat elections 2022: Gujarat went into state assemble polls earlier this month where the first phase elections were held on December 1 and the second phase elections took place on December 5. Now, all eyes are set on the election results day. The incumbent BJP party is looking forward to reclaiming the CM throne. Also, the election debutante Aam Aadami Party (AAP) is also hopeful of tasting victory on some of the assembly seats. Even though exit polls indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win the election and take power in Gujarat, the full picture won't become clear until the Election Commission of India releases the results on December 8. Gujarat elections 2022 results date and time The Gujarat elections 2022 results will be announced on December 8, Thursday. Vote counting will start on Thursday at 8 AM. Initial trends will be visible after the counting starts. However a clear picture will begin to emerge only from 10 AM onward. The vote counting will take place on 37 locations around the state. Votes of all 182 assembly seats will be counted the same day. Where to watch Gujarat elections 2022 results livestream and broadcast channels Live updates for the Gujarat Assembly Election Result in 2022 will be accessible on all Zee media websites and news channels. The election results will also be Live streamed on ZEE5 OTT service. Additionally, one can keep an eye on results at results.eci.gov.in, the Election Commission of India’s official website. Gujarat hosted the first of two phases of the state's assembly elections in all 33 districts on December 1 and December 5. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) entered the election arena for the first time this year, making Gujarat's election a three-cornered race. Traditionally, BJP and Congress have been fighting for the power in state. Previous election results in Gujarat: In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won 99 seats and the Congress 77 seats. The BTP won two seats, the NCP won one, and three seats went to independent candidates. Any party crossing the magical number of 92 is declared winner. After 20 MLAs who won on Congress seats in the last five years switched to the BJP, three of them resigned just before the elections, the BJP had 110 members in the House and the Congress had 60. Before the 2022 elections, BJP had 110 members in the House after 20 MLAs of Congress switched to the BJP and three of them resigned. Congress had 60 members in the state assembly.

Gujarat Election Result 2022 update: Counting of votes live streaming, timings, where and how to watch

<p>14 districts in the north and central Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar, will vote in the second round of elections on Monday, December 5. The results will be announced on December 8. In the state, where the BJP has been in power for the past 27 years, a total of 833 candidates are in the fray for the second round of voting. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are the traditional players in the state, with the debutante Aam Aadmi Party as a third player.</p>

<h2><strong>Gujarat elections phase 2 party-wise nomination details</strong></h2>

<p>The BJP and AAP have nominated candidates on all 93 seats that will vote in the second round of elections, while the Congress has nominated candidates in 90 of them and has formed a pre-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the rest three. However, Gopsinh Lavar, the NCP candidate for the Devgadh Baria assembly seat, withdrew his nomination on November 21, the final day for the withdrawal of candidacy for the second round of voting, leaving the seat vacant.</p>

<h2><strong>Gujarat elections phase 2 important seats and figures&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>In the second round of voting, important figures and districts include the Ghatlodia Assembly seat, where incumbent Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is running; Visnagar, where Minister of Health and Family Welfare Rushikesh Bhai Patel is running; Viramgam seat, where BJP candidate Hardik Patel and Congress candidate Jignesh Mevani are nominated; Gandhinagar South, where BJP leader Alpesh Thakor is running.</p>

<h2><strong>Gujarat elections phase 2 party-wise candidate list</strong></h2>

<p><strong>Here’s the full list of Constituency, District BJP, Congress, AAP candidates:</strong></p>

<ol>
	<li>Vav (Banaskantha) – Swarpuji Thakor vs Geniben Thakor vs Dr Bhim Patel</li>
	<li>Tharad (Banaskantha) Shankarbhai Chaudhary vs Gulabsinh Rajput vs Virchandbhai Chelabhai Chavda</li>
	<li>Dhanera (Banaskantha) – Bhagwanjibhai Chaudhary Nathabhai Patel vs Suresh Devda</li>
	<li>Danta (ST) (Banaskantha) – Ladhubhai Parghi vs Kantibhai Kharadi vs MK Bombadiya</li>
	<li>Vadgam (SC) (Banaskantha) – Manibhai Vaghela vs Jignesh Mevani vs Dalpat Bhatiya</li>
	<li>Palanpur (Banaskantha) – Ankitebhai Thakar vs Mahesh Patel vs Ramesh Nabhani</li>
	<li>Deesa (Banaskantha) – Praveen Mali vs Sanjaybhai Rabari vs Dr Ramesh Patel</li>
	<li>Deodar (Banaskantha) – Keshaji Chauhan vs Shuvaji Bhuriya vs Bhemabhai Choudhary</li>
	<li>Kankrej (Banaskantha) – Kiratsingh Vaghela vs Amrut Thakor vs Mukesh Thakkar</li>
	<li>Radhanpur (Patan) – Lovingji Thakor vs Raghubhai Desai vs Lalji Thakor</li>
	<li>Chanasma (Patan) – Dilipkumar Thakor vs Dineshbhai Thakor vs Vishnubhai Patel</li>
	<li>Patan (Patan) – Rajulben Desai vs Dr Kiritkumar Patel vs Lalesh Thakkar</li>
	<li>Sidhpur (Patan) – Balvansingh Rajput vs Chandanji Thakor vs Mahendra Rajput</li>
	<li>Kheralu (Mahesana) – Sardarsinh Chaudhary vs Mukeshbhai Desai vs Dinesh Thakor</li>
	<li>Unjha (Mahesana) – Kiritbhai Patel vs Arvind Amratlal vs Urvish Patel</li>
	<li>Visnagar (Mahesana) – Rushikeshbhai Patel vs Kirit Patel vs Jayantilal M. Patel</li>
	<li>Bechraji (Mahesana) – Sukhaji Thakor vs Bhopaji Thakor vs Sagar Rabari</li>
	<li>Kadi (SC) (Mahesana) – Karshanbhai Solanki vs Pravinbhai Parmar vs HK Dabhi</li>
	<li>Mahesana (Mahesana) – Mukesh Patel vs PK Patel vs Bhagat Patel</li>
	<li>Vijapur (Mahesana) – Ramanbhai Patel vs Dr Chaursinh Chavda vs Chiragbhai Patel</li>
	<li>Himatnagar (Sabarkantha) – VD Jhala vs Kamleshkumar Patel vs Nirmalsinh Parmar</li>
	<li>Idar (SC) (Sabarkantha) – Ramanlal Vora Ramanbhai Solanki vs Jayantibhai Parnami</li>
	<li>Khedbrahma (ST) (Sabarkantha) – Ashwinbhai Kotawal vs Tushar Choudhary vs Bipin Gameti&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Prantij (Sabarkantha) – Gajendrasinh Parmar vs Bahecharasingh Rathod vs Alpesh Patel</li>
	<li>Bhiloda (ST) (Arvalli) – Poonamchand Baranda vs Raju Parghi vs Rupsing Bhagoda</li>
	<li>Modasa (Arvalli) – Arvalli Bhikhubhai Parmar vs Rajendrasinh Thakor vs Rajendrasinh Parmar</li>
	<li>Bayad (Arvalli) – Bhikhiben Parmar vs Mahendra Vaghela vs Chunnibhai Patel</li>
	<li>Dahegam (Gandhinagar) – Balrajsinh Chauhan vs Vakhatsingh Chauhan vs Suhag Panchal</li>
	<li>Gandhinagar North (Gandhinagar) – Ritaben Thakor vs Virendrasinh Vaghela vs Mukesh Patel</li>
	<li>Gandhinagar South (Gandhinagar) – Alpesh Thakor vs Dr Himanshu Patel vs Dolat Patel</li>
	<li>Mansa (Gandhinagar) – Jayantbhai Patel vs Babusinh Thakor vs Bhaskar Patel</li>
	<li>Kalol (Gandhinagar) – Bakaji Thakor vs Baldev Thakor vs Kantiji Thakor</li>
	<li>Viramgam (Ahmedabad) – Hardik Patel vs Lakhabhai Bharwad vs Amarsinh Thakor</li>
	<li>Sanand (Ahmedabad) – Kanubhai Patel vs Ramesh Koli vs Kuldeep Vaghela</li>
	<li>Ghatlodia (Ahmedabad) – Bhupendra Patel vs Amee Yagnik vs Vijay Patel</li>
	<li>Vejalpur (Ahmedabad) – Amitbhai Thakar Rajendra Patel vs Kalpesh Patel Bholabhai</li>
	<li>Vatva (Ahmedabad) – Babu Singh Jadhav vs Balvant Gadhavi vs Bipin Patel&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ellis Bridge (Ahmedabad) – Amibhai Shah vs Bhiku Dave vs Paras Shah</li>
	<li>Naranpura (Ahmedabad) – Jitendrabhai Patel vs Sonalben Patel vs Pankaj Patel</li>
	<li>Nikol (Ahmedabad) – Jagdishbhai Vishvakarma vs Ranjit Barad vs Ashok Gajera</li>
	<li>Naroda (Ahmedabad) Dr Payalben Kukrani vs Meghraj Dodwani (NCP) vs Omprakash Tiwari</li>
	<li>Thakkarbapa Nagar (Ahmedabad) – Kanchanben Rabadiya vs Vijaykumar Brahmabhatt vs Sanjay Mori</li>
	<li>Bapunagar (Ahmedabad) – Dineshsinh Kushwah Himmatsinh Patel vs Rajeshbhai Dixit</li>
	<li>Amraiwadi (Ahmedabad) – Dr Hansmukhbhai Patel vs Dharmendra Patel vs Vinay Gupta</li>
	<li>Dariapur (Ahmedabad) – Kaushikbhai Jain vs Gyasuddin Shaikh vs Taj Qureshi</li>
	<li>Jamalpur-Khadia (Ahmedabad) – Bhushanbhai Bhatt vs Imran Khedawala vs Harun Nagori</li>
	<li>Maninagar (Ahmedabad) – Amulbhai Bhatt vs CM Rajput vs Vipulbhai Patel</li>
	<li>Danilimada (SC) (Ahmedabad) – Nareshkumar Vyas vs Shailesh Parmar vs Dinesh Kapadia</li>
	<li>Sabarmati (Ahmedabad) – Dr Harshadbhai Patel vs Dinesh Mahida vs Jasvant Thakor</li>
	<li>Asarwa (SC) (Ahmedabad) – Darshnaben Vaghela vs Vipul Parmar vs JJ Mevada</li>
	<li>Daskroi (Ahmedabad) – Babubhai Patel vs Umedi Zala vs Kiram Patel</li>
	<li>Dholka (Ahmedabad) – Kiritsinh Dabhi vs Ashwin Rathod vs Jattuba Gol&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Dhandhuka (Ahmedabad) – Kalubhai Dabhi vs Harpal Chudasma vs Captain Chandubhai Bamroliya</li>
	<li>Khambat (Anand) – Maheshbhai Raval vs Chirag Patel vs Arun Gohil</li>
	<li>Borsad (Anand) – Ramanbhai Solanki vs Rakendrasinh Parmar vs Manish Patel</li>
	<li>Anklav (Anand) – Gulabsinh Padhiyar vs Amit Chavda vs Gajendra Singh</li>
	<li>Umreth (Anand) – Govindbhai Parmar vs Jayantbhai Ramanbhai Patel (NCP) vs Amrishbhai Patel</li>
	<li>Anand (Anand) – Yogeshbhai Patel vs Kanti Sodhaparmar vs Girish Shandilya</li>
	<li>Petlad (Anand) – Kamlesh Patel vs Dr Prakash Parmar vs Arjun Bharwad</li>
	<li>Sojitra (Anand) – Vipulbhai Patel vs Punambhai Parmar vs Manubhai Thakor</li>
	<li>Matar (Kheda) – Kalpeshbhai Parmar Sanjaybhai Patel vs Lalji Parmar</li>
	<li>Nadiad (Kheda) – Pankajbhai Desai Dhruval Patel vs Harshad Baghela</li>
	<li>Mehmedabad (Kheda) – Arjunsinh Chauhan Juvansinh Gadabhai vs Pramodbhai Chauhan</li>
	<li>Mahudha (Kheda) – Sanjaysinh Mahida Indersinh Parmar vs Ravjibhai Somabhai Vaghela</li>
	<li>Thasra (Kheda) – Yogendrasinh Parmar Kantibhai Parmar vs Natwarsinh Rathod</li>
	<li>Kapadvanj (Kheda) – Rajeshkumar Zala Kantibhai Dabhi vs Manubhai Patel</li>
	<li>Balasinor (Mahisagar) – Mansinh Chauhan Ajitsinh Chauhan vs Udeysinh Chauhan</li>
	<li>Lunawada (Mahisagar) – Jigneshkumar Sevak Gulab Singh vs Natwarsinh Solanki</li>
	<li>Santrampur (ST) (Mahisagar) – Kuberbhai Dindor Gendalbhai Damor vs Parvat Vagodia Fauji</li>
	<li>Shehra (Panchmahals) – Jethabhai Ahir vs Khatubhai Pagi vs Takhatsinh Solanki</li>
	<li>Morva Hadaf (ST) (Panchmahals) – Nimishaben Suthar vs Snehlataben Khant vs Banabhai Damor</li>
	<li>Godhra (Panchmahals) – Chandrasinh Raulji vs Rashmitaben Chauhan vs Rajesh Patel Raju</li>
	<li>Kalol (Panchmahals) – Fatehsinh Chauhan vs Prabhat Singh vs Dinesh Baria</li>
	<li>Halol (Panchmahals) – Jaydrathsinhi Parmar vs Anishbhai Bariya vs Bharat Rathva</li>
	<li>Fatepura (ST) (Dahod) -Rameshbhai Katariya vs Raghu Machar vs Govind Parmar</li>
	<li>Jhalod (ST) (Dahod) – Mahesh Bhuriya vs Dr Mitesh Garasiya vs Anil Garasiya</li>
	<li>Limkheda (ST) (Dahod) – Shaileshbhai Bhabhor vs Ramesh Gondaliya vs Naresh Punabhai Bariya</li>
	<li>Dahod (ST) (Dahod) – Kanaiyalal Kishori vs Harshadbhai Ninama vs Dinesh Muniya&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Garbada (ST) (Dahod) – Mahendrabhai Bhabhor vs Chandrikaben Baraiya vs Shaileshbhai Kanubhai Bhabhor</li>
	<li>Devgadh Baria (Dahod) – Bachubhai Khabad vs Bharat Vakhala</li>
	<li>Savli (Vadodara) – Ketanbhai Inamdar vs Kuldeepsinh Raulji vs Vijay Chavda</li>
	<li>Vaghodia (Vadodara) Ashwinbhai Patel vs Satyajitsinh Gaekwad vs Gautam Rajput</li>
	<li>Dabhoi (Vadodara) Shaileshbhai Mehta vs Balkishan Patel vs Ajitbhai Parshotamdas Thakor</li>
	<li>Vadodara City (SC) (Vadodara) – Manishaben vs Vakil Gunvantrai Parmar vs Jigar Solanki</li>
	<li>Sayajiganj (Vadodara) – Keyur Rokadiya vs Amee Ravat vs Swejal Vyas</li>
	<li>Akota (Vadodara) Chaitanya Desai vs Rutvik Joshi vs Shashank Khare</li>
	<li>Raopura (Vadodara) – Balkrishna Shukla vs Sanjay Patel vs Hiren Shirke</li>
	<li>Manjalpur (Vadodara) – Yogesh Patel vs Tashvin Singh vs Vinay Chavan</li>
	<li>Padra (Vadodara) Chaitanyasinh Zala vs Jashpalsinh Padhiyar vs Sandeep Singh Raj</li>
	<li>Karjan (Vadodara) Akshaykumar Patel vs Pritesh Patel vs Paresh Patel</li>
	<li>Chhota Udaipur (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Rajendrasinh Rathva vs Sangramsinh Rathwa vs Arjun Rathva</li>
	<li>Jetpur (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Jayantibhai Rathwa vs Sukhrambhai Rathwa vs Radhika Amarsinh Rathva</li>
	<li>Sankheda (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Abesingh Tadvi vs Dhirubhai Chunilal vs Ranjan Tadvi</li>
</ol>


14 districts in the north and central Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar, will vote in the second round of elections on Monday, December 5. The results will be announced on December 8.

14 districts in the north and central Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar, will vote in the second round of elections on Monday, December 5. The results will be announced on December 8. In the state, where the BJP has been in power for the past 27 years, a total of 833 candidates are in the fray for the second round of voting. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are the traditional players in the state, with the debutante Aam Aadmi Party as a third player. Gujarat elections phase 2 party-wise nomination details The BJP and AAP have nominated candidates on all 93 seats that will vote in the second round of elections, while the Congress has nominated candidates in 90 of them and has formed a pre-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the rest three. However, Gopsinh Lavar, the NCP candidate for the Devgadh Baria assembly seat, withdrew his nomination on November 21, the final day for the withdrawal of candidacy for the second round of voting, leaving the seat vacant. Gujarat elections phase 2 important seats and figures In the second round of voting, important figures and districts include the Ghatlodia Assembly seat, where incumbent Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is running; Visnagar, where Minister of Health and Family Welfare Rushikesh Bhai Patel is running; Viramgam seat, where BJP candidate Hardik Patel and Congress candidate Jignesh Mevani are nominated; Gandhinagar South, where BJP leader Alpesh Thakor is running. Gujarat elections phase 2 party-wise candidate list Here’s the full list of Constituency, District BJP, Congress, AAP candidates: Vav (Banaskantha) – Swarpuji Thakor vs Geniben Thakor vs Dr Bhim Patel Tharad (Banaskantha) Shankarbhai Chaudhary vs Gulabsinh Rajput vs Virchandbhai Chelabhai Chavda Dhanera (Banaskantha) – Bhagwanjibhai Chaudhary Nathabhai Patel vs Suresh Devda Danta (ST) (Banaskantha) – Ladhubhai Parghi vs Kantibhai Kharadi vs MK Bombadiya Vadgam (SC) (Banaskantha) – Manibhai Vaghela vs Jignesh Mevani vs Dalpat Bhatiya Palanpur (Banaskantha) – Ankitebhai Thakar vs Mahesh Patel vs Ramesh Nabhani Deesa (Banaskantha) – Praveen Mali vs Sanjaybhai Rabari vs Dr Ramesh Patel Deodar (Banaskantha) – Keshaji Chauhan vs Shuvaji Bhuriya vs Bhemabhai Choudhary Kankrej (Banaskantha) – Kiratsingh Vaghela vs Amrut Thakor vs Mukesh Thakkar Radhanpur (Patan) – Lovingji Thakor vs Raghubhai Desai vs Lalji Thakor Chanasma (Patan) – Dilipkumar Thakor vs Dineshbhai Thakor vs Vishnubhai Patel Patan (Patan) – Rajulben Desai vs Dr Kiritkumar Patel vs Lalesh Thakkar Sidhpur (Patan) – Balvansingh Rajput vs Chandanji Thakor vs Mahendra Rajput Kheralu (Mahesana) – Sardarsinh Chaudhary vs Mukeshbhai Desai vs Dinesh Thakor Unjha (Mahesana) – Kiritbhai Patel vs Arvind Amratlal vs Urvish Patel Visnagar (Mahesana) – Rushikeshbhai Patel vs Kirit Patel vs Jayantilal M. Patel Bechraji (Mahesana) – Sukhaji Thakor vs Bhopaji Thakor vs Sagar Rabari Kadi (SC) (Mahesana) – Karshanbhai Solanki vs Pravinbhai Parmar vs HK Dabhi Mahesana (Mahesana) – Mukesh Patel vs PK Patel vs Bhagat Patel Vijapur (Mahesana) – Ramanbhai Patel vs Dr Chaursinh Chavda vs Chiragbhai Patel Himatnagar (Sabarkantha) – VD Jhala vs Kamleshkumar Patel vs Nirmalsinh Parmar Idar (SC) (Sabarkantha) – Ramanlal Vora Ramanbhai Solanki vs Jayantibhai Parnami Khedbrahma (ST) (Sabarkantha) – Ashwinbhai Kotawal vs Tushar Choudhary vs Bipin Gameti Prantij (Sabarkantha) – Gajendrasinh Parmar vs Bahecharasingh Rathod vs Alpesh Patel Bhiloda (ST) (Arvalli) – Poonamchand Baranda vs Raju Parghi vs Rupsing Bhagoda Modasa (Arvalli) – Arvalli Bhikhubhai Parmar vs Rajendrasinh Thakor vs Rajendrasinh Parmar Bayad (Arvalli) – Bhikhiben Parmar vs Mahendra Vaghela vs Chunnibhai Patel Dahegam (Gandhinagar) – Balrajsinh Chauhan vs Vakhatsingh Chauhan vs Suhag Panchal Gandhinagar North (Gandhinagar) – Ritaben Thakor vs Virendrasinh Vaghela vs Mukesh Patel Gandhinagar South (Gandhinagar) – Alpesh Thakor vs Dr Himanshu Patel vs Dolat Patel Mansa (Gandhinagar) – Jayantbhai Patel vs Babusinh Thakor vs Bhaskar Patel Kalol (Gandhinagar) – Bakaji Thakor vs Baldev Thakor vs Kantiji Thakor Viramgam (Ahmedabad) – Hardik Patel vs Lakhabhai Bharwad vs Amarsinh Thakor Sanand (Ahmedabad) – Kanubhai Patel vs Ramesh Koli vs Kuldeep Vaghela Ghatlodia (Ahmedabad) – Bhupendra Patel vs Amee Yagnik vs Vijay Patel Vejalpur (Ahmedabad) – Amitbhai Thakar Rajendra Patel vs Kalpesh Patel Bholabhai Vatva (Ahmedabad) – Babu Singh Jadhav vs Balvant Gadhavi vs Bipin Patel Ellis Bridge (Ahmedabad) – Amibhai Shah vs Bhiku Dave vs Paras Shah Naranpura (Ahmedabad) – Jitendrabhai Patel vs Sonalben Patel vs Pankaj Patel Nikol (Ahmedabad) – Jagdishbhai Vishvakarma vs Ranjit Barad vs Ashok Gajera Naroda (Ahmedabad) Dr Payalben Kukrani vs Meghraj Dodwani (NCP) vs Omprakash Tiwari Thakkarbapa Nagar (Ahmedabad) – Kanchanben Rabadiya vs Vijaykumar Brahmabhatt vs Sanjay Mori Bapunagar (Ahmedabad) – Dineshsinh Kushwah Himmatsinh Patel vs Rajeshbhai Dixit Amraiwadi (Ahmedabad) – Dr Hansmukhbhai Patel vs Dharmendra Patel vs Vinay Gupta Dariapur (Ahmedabad) – Kaushikbhai Jain vs Gyasuddin Shaikh vs Taj Qureshi Jamalpur-Khadia (Ahmedabad) – Bhushanbhai Bhatt vs Imran Khedawala vs Harun Nagori Maninagar (Ahmedabad) – Amulbhai Bhatt vs CM Rajput vs Vipulbhai Patel Danilimada (SC) (Ahmedabad) – Nareshkumar Vyas vs Shailesh Parmar vs Dinesh Kapadia Sabarmati (Ahmedabad) – Dr Harshadbhai Patel vs Dinesh Mahida vs Jasvant Thakor Asarwa (SC) (Ahmedabad) – Darshnaben Vaghela vs Vipul Parmar vs JJ Mevada Daskroi (Ahmedabad) – Babubhai Patel vs Umedi Zala vs Kiram Patel Dholka (Ahmedabad) – Kiritsinh Dabhi vs Ashwin Rathod vs Jattuba Gol Dhandhuka (Ahmedabad) – Kalubhai Dabhi vs Harpal Chudasma vs Captain Chandubhai Bamroliya Khambat (Anand) – Maheshbhai Raval vs Chirag Patel vs Arun Gohil Borsad (Anand) – Ramanbhai Solanki vs Rakendrasinh Parmar vs Manish Patel Anklav (Anand) – Gulabsinh Padhiyar vs Amit Chavda vs Gajendra Singh Umreth (Anand) – Govindbhai Parmar vs Jayantbhai Ramanbhai Patel (NCP) vs Amrishbhai Patel Anand (Anand) – Yogeshbhai Patel vs Kanti Sodhaparmar vs Girish Shandilya Petlad (Anand) – Kamlesh Patel vs Dr Prakash Parmar vs Arjun Bharwad Sojitra (Anand) – Vipulbhai Patel vs Punambhai Parmar vs Manubhai Thakor Matar (Kheda) – Kalpeshbhai Parmar Sanjaybhai Patel vs Lalji Parmar Nadiad (Kheda) – Pankajbhai Desai Dhruval Patel vs Harshad Baghela Mehmedabad (Kheda) – Arjunsinh Chauhan Juvansinh Gadabhai vs Pramodbhai Chauhan Mahudha (Kheda) – Sanjaysinh Mahida Indersinh Parmar vs Ravjibhai Somabhai Vaghela Thasra (Kheda) – Yogendrasinh Parmar Kantibhai Parmar vs Natwarsinh Rathod Kapadvanj (Kheda) – Rajeshkumar Zala Kantibhai Dabhi vs Manubhai Patel Balasinor (Mahisagar) – Mansinh Chauhan Ajitsinh Chauhan vs Udeysinh Chauhan Lunawada (Mahisagar) – Jigneshkumar Sevak Gulab Singh vs Natwarsinh Solanki Santrampur (ST) (Mahisagar) – Kuberbhai Dindor Gendalbhai Damor vs Parvat Vagodia Fauji Shehra (Panchmahals) – Jethabhai Ahir vs Khatubhai Pagi vs Takhatsinh Solanki Morva Hadaf (ST) (Panchmahals) – Nimishaben Suthar vs Snehlataben Khant vs Banabhai Damor Godhra (Panchmahals) – Chandrasinh Raulji vs Rashmitaben Chauhan vs Rajesh Patel Raju Kalol (Panchmahals) – Fatehsinh Chauhan vs Prabhat Singh vs Dinesh Baria Halol (Panchmahals) – Jaydrathsinhi Parmar vs Anishbhai Bariya vs Bharat Rathva Fatepura (ST) (Dahod) -Rameshbhai Katariya vs Raghu Machar vs Govind Parmar Jhalod (ST) (Dahod) – Mahesh Bhuriya vs Dr Mitesh Garasiya vs Anil Garasiya Limkheda (ST) (Dahod) – Shaileshbhai Bhabhor vs Ramesh Gondaliya vs Naresh Punabhai Bariya Dahod (ST) (Dahod) – Kanaiyalal Kishori vs Harshadbhai Ninama vs Dinesh Muniya Garbada (ST) (Dahod) – Mahendrabhai Bhabhor vs Chandrikaben Baraiya vs Shaileshbhai Kanubhai Bhabhor Devgadh Baria (Dahod) – Bachubhai Khabad vs Bharat Vakhala Savli (Vadodara) – Ketanbhai Inamdar vs Kuldeepsinh Raulji vs Vijay Chavda Vaghodia (Vadodara) Ashwinbhai Patel vs Satyajitsinh Gaekwad vs Gautam Rajput Dabhoi (Vadodara) Shaileshbhai Mehta vs Balkishan Patel vs Ajitbhai Parshotamdas Thakor Vadodara City (SC) (Vadodara) – Manishaben vs Vakil Gunvantrai Parmar vs Jigar Solanki Sayajiganj (Vadodara) – Keyur Rokadiya vs Amee Ravat vs Swejal Vyas Akota (Vadodara) Chaitanya Desai vs Rutvik Joshi vs Shashank Khare Raopura (Vadodara) – Balkrishna Shukla vs Sanjay Patel vs Hiren Shirke Manjalpur (Vadodara) – Yogesh Patel vs Tashvin Singh vs Vinay Chavan Padra (Vadodara) Chaitanyasinh Zala vs Jashpalsinh Padhiyar vs Sandeep Singh Raj Karjan (Vadodara) Akshaykumar Patel vs Pritesh Patel vs Paresh Patel Chhota Udaipur (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Rajendrasinh Rathva vs Sangramsinh Rathwa vs Arjun Rathva Jetpur (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Jayantibhai Rathwa vs Sukhrambhai Rathwa vs Radhika Amarsinh Rathva Sankheda (ST) (Chhota Udepur) Abesingh Tadvi vs Dhirubhai Chunilal vs Ranjan Tadvi

Gujarat Elections 2022 phase 2: Check full list of BJP, Congress and AAP candidates, their constituencies

<p>An average 59.24 per cent voter turn-out was recorded as of 5 pm on Thursday across 89 Assembly seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections, election officials said.</p>

<p>While voting began at 8 in the morning and ended at 5 pm, the final turn-out would be higher as the process continued at the polling stations where voters had arrived before 5 pm and were standing in queues.</p>

<p>The fate of 788 candidates will be decided in the first phase.</p>

<p>Barring a few incidents, polling was largely peaceful across all 89 seats in south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch regions which went to polls in the first phase.</p>

<p>The voter turn-out figure was provisional as data from some polling stations had not been received and it also did not include postal ballots, the Election Commission said. Voting was halted in a few places due to malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines as well as control units and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) but the faulty units were replaced and the process resumed, it added.</p>

<p>Tapi district recorded the highest provisional voting turnout of 72.32 per cent. The tribal-dominated district comprises two Assembly constituencies of Vyara and Nizar. With 68.09 per cent turnout, Narmada district stood second.</p>

<p>Bhavnagar in Saurashtra region recorded the lowest turnout of 51.34 per cent as of 5 pm.</p>

<p>Apart from Narmada, four other districts recorded over 60 per cent voting turnout: Navsari (65.91 per cent), Dang (64.84 per cent), Valsad (62.46 per cent) and Gir Somnath (60.46 per cent).</p>

<p>Polling was largely peaceful barring a few incidents of scuffles between rival groups, the EC said.</p>

<p>Locals protested at Dhrafa village in Jamjodhpur taluka of Jamnagar district as there were no separate polling booths for men and women.</p>

<p>They threatened to boycott voting, claiming that separate booths were always set up in the past.</p>

<p>In Junagadh, a ruckus broke out after police tried to stop a Congress leader who walked to the polling station carrying a gas cylinder on his shoulder to protest against inflation. Such protest was seen in many other places too.</p>

<p>The EC tweeted the picture of 104-year old Ramjibhai who, it said, "participated in the festival of democracy by voting at the polling station instead of opting for a postal ballot."</p>

<p>At least 33 ballot units, 29 control units and 69 VVPATs were replaced in the first three hours of polling at different stations due to malfunctioning, the office of Chief Electoral Officer said in a statement.</p>

<p>"Around 0.1 per cent ballot units, 0.1 per cent control units and 0.3 per cent VVPATs have been replaced in three hours of voting.</p>

<p>"Reserve machine sets are available in all districts with the zonal officer in-charge of that area. Wherever a small or big problem occurs, arrangements have been made to replace them in no time," it added.</p>

<p>Former chief minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP chief C R Paatil, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani, BJP candidate from Jamnagar (North) Rivaba Jadeja, former Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, state Aam Aadmi Party president Gopal Italia were among those who voted early.</p>

<p>While Rivaba Jadeja voted in Rajkot, her husband and cricketer Ravindra Jadeja voted in Jamnagar.</p>

<p>AAP's Italia questioned the slow turnout in the initial hours.</p>

<p>"Voting is being deliberately slowed down in Katargam AC. @ECISVEEP If you have to work this way under the pressure of the BJP goons, then why are you holding elections? An average of 3.5 percent voting was done in the entire state but only 1.41 per cent in Katargam. Don't stoop so low to defeat a small child," he said in a tweet.</p>

<p>Voting for the second phase will be held on December 5, and counting of votes on December 8.</p>

<p><em>You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form"><strong>here</strong></a>.</em></p>

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An average 59.24 per cent voter turn-out was recorded as of 5 pm on Thursday across 89 Assembly seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections, election officials said.

An average 59.24 per cent voter turn-out was recorded as of 5 pm on Thursday across 89 Assembly seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections, election officials said. While voting began at 8 in the morning and ended at 5 pm, the final turn-out would be higher as the process continued at the polling stations where voters had arrived before 5 pm and were standing in queues. The fate of 788 candidates will be decided in the first phase. Barring a few incidents, polling was largely peaceful across all 89 seats in south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch regions which went to polls in the first phase. The voter turn-out figure was provisional as data from some polling stations had not been received and it also did not include postal ballots, the Election Commission said. Voting was halted in a few places due to malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines as well as control units and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) but the faulty units were replaced and the process resumed, it added. Tapi district recorded the highest provisional voting turnout of 72.32 per cent. The tribal-dominated district comprises two Assembly constituencies of Vyara and Nizar. With 68.09 per cent turnout, Narmada district stood second. Bhavnagar in Saurashtra region recorded the lowest turnout of 51.34 per cent as of 5 pm. Apart from Narmada, four other districts recorded over 60 per cent voting turnout: Navsari (65.91 per cent), Dang (64.84 per cent), Valsad (62.46 per cent) and Gir Somnath (60.46 per cent). Polling was largely peaceful barring a few incidents of scuffles between rival groups, the EC said. Locals protested at Dhrafa village in Jamjodhpur taluka of Jamnagar district as there were no separate polling booths for men and women. They threatened to boycott voting, claiming that separate booths were always set up in the past. In Junagadh, a ruckus broke out after police tried to stop a Congress leader who walked to the polling station carrying a gas cylinder on his shoulder to protest against inflation. Such protest was seen in many other places too. The EC tweeted the picture of 104-year old Ramjibhai who, it said, "participated in the festival of democracy by voting at the polling station instead of opting for a postal ballot." At least 33 ballot units, 29 control units and 69 VVPATs were replaced in the first three hours of polling at different stations due to malfunctioning, the office of Chief Electoral Officer said in a statement. "Around 0.1 per cent ballot units, 0.1 per cent control units and 0.3 per cent VVPATs have been replaced in three hours of voting. "Reserve machine sets are available in all districts with the zonal officer in-charge of that area. Wherever a small or big problem occurs, arrangements have been made to replace them in no time," it added. Former chief minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP chief C R Paatil, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani, BJP candidate from Jamnagar (North) Rivaba Jadeja, former Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, state Aam Aadmi Party president Gopal Italia were among those who voted early. While Rivaba Jadeja voted in Rajkot, her husband and cricketer Ravindra Jadeja voted in Jamnagar. AAP's Italia questioned the slow turnout in the initial hours. "Voting is being deliberately slowed down in Katargam AC. @ECISVEEP If you have to work this way under the pressure of the BJP goons, then why are you holding elections? An average of 3.5 percent voting was done in the entire state but only 1.41 per cent in Katargam. Don't stoop so low to defeat a small child," he said in a tweet. Voting for the second phase will be held on December 5, and counting of votes on December 8. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

59.2 per cent turnout till 5 pm in first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections

<p>India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named party lawmaker Bhupendra Patel as the next Chief Minister of western Gujarat state— the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>

<p>59-year-old Patel was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader in Gandhinagar city.</p>

<p>His name was proposed by Vijay Rupani who had resigned from the CM post on Saturday, surprising many.</p>

<p>The new leader is expected to meet the state governor, Acharya Devvrat, to stake claim to form the government.</p>

<p>Patel won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections from Ahmedabad`s Ghatlodia constituency.</p>

<p><strong>Also read</strong> |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/western-indian-state-of-gujarats-chief-minister-vijay-rupani-resigns-412357">Western Indian state of Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigns</a></p>

<p>He holds a diploma in civil engineering and is considered close to former CM Anandiben Patel, who won from the seat in 2012 polls.</p>

<p>Earlier, he served as a municipal councillor in Ahmedabad. He has been the chairman of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) and used to head the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation standing committee.&nbsp;Bhupendra Patel belongs to the influential Patel community.</p>

<p><strong>Watch</strong></p>

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<p>The latest development comes as the elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly are due in December 2022.</p>

<p>Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister, his second stint as CM in December 2017.</p>

<p>Rupani, who completed five years in office on August 7 this year, first became the chief minister on August 7, 2016, following the resignation of incumbent Anandiben Patel, and continued in the office after the BJP's victory in the 2017 Assembly elections.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named party lawmaker Bhupendra Patel as the next Chief Minister of western Gujarat state— the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named party lawmaker Bhupendra Patel as the next Chief Minister of western Gujarat state— the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 59-year-old Patel was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader in Gandhinagar city. His name was proposed by Vijay Rupani who had resigned from the CM post on Saturday, surprising many. The new leader is expected to meet the state governor, Acharya Devvrat, to stake claim to form the government. Patel won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections from Ahmedabad`s Ghatlodia constituency. Also read | Western Indian state of Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani resigns He holds a diploma in civil engineering and is considered close to former CM Anandiben Patel, who won from the seat in 2012 polls. Earlier, he served as a municipal councillor in Ahmedabad. He has been the chairman of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) and used to head the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation standing committee. Bhupendra Patel belongs to the influential Patel community. Watch The latest development comes as the elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly are due in December 2022. Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister, his second stint as CM in December 2017. Rupani, who completed five years in office on August 7 this year, first became the chief minister on August 7, 2016, following the resignation of incumbent Anandiben Patel, and continued in the office after the BJP's victory in the 2017 Assembly elections. (With inputs from agencies)

India’s Gujarat state gets new CM ahead of crucial elections next year

<p>Rahul Gandhi is all set to kickstart Congress party&#39;s election campaign for upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka from Saturday.</p>

<p>Gandhi will begin his four-day campaign tour from Bellary district, the same district from where Sonia Gandhi won&nbsp;in 1999 Assembly polls&nbsp;defeating current external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.</p>

<p>Rahul Gandhi campaigning in Karnataka is being compared to Sonia Gandhi&#39;s 1999 campaign&nbsp;noticing the similarity that Sonia Gandhi also started her campaign after she was elected as Congress president.</p>

<p>Media reports say Rahul Gandhi will&nbsp;be visiting Koppal&#39;s Huligamma Temple on Saturday and Gavi Siddeshwara Mutt in the evening.</p>

<p>The four-day campaign will&nbsp;involve road shows, public meetings, interactions with civil society groups and farmers.</p>

<p>Earlier former chief minister of Karnataka and Congress leader Gundu Rao had said that Rahul Gandhi is going to be a &quot;very key&quot; campaigner for the Congress in the state.</p>

<p>Countering criticism of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rahul-gandhi-to-continue-temple-run-in-karnataka-30075">Gandhi visiting temple</a> during the elections campaign, Congress leader Anil Shastri said that Gandhi&#39;s visit to temples is just a matter of faith and not intended to create a vote bank.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Rahul Gandhi also visited several temples during the Gujarat Assembly elections inviting criticism of playing &#39;&#39;soft&nbsp;Hindutva&#39;&#39; card.</p>


The four-day campaign will involve road shows, public meetings, interactions with civil society groups and farmers

Rahul Gandhi is all set to kickstart Congress party's election campaign for upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka from Saturday. Gandhi will begin his four-day campaign tour from Bellary district, the same district from where Sonia Gandhi won in 1999 Assembly polls defeating current external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Rahul Gandhi campaigning in Karnataka is being compared to Sonia Gandhi's 1999 campaign noticing the similarity that Sonia Gandhi also started her campaign after she was elected as Congress president. Media reports say Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Koppal's Huligamma Temple on Saturday and Gavi Siddeshwara Mutt in the evening. The four-day campaign will involve road shows, public meetings, interactions with civil society groups and farmers. Earlier former chief minister of Karnataka and Congress leader Gundu Rao had said that Rahul Gandhi is going to be a "very key" campaigner for the Congress in the state. Countering criticism of Gandhi visiting temple during the elections campaign, Congress leader Anil Shastri said that Gandhi's visit to temples is just a matter of faith and not intended to create a vote bank. Rahul Gandhi also visited several temples during the Gujarat Assembly elections inviting criticism of playing ''soft Hindutva'' card.

Rahul Gandhi to kickstart election campaign in Karnataka from today

<p>If today&rsquo;s electoral outcomes were not to impact tomorrow&rsquo;s, they would be dealt with as standalone and transient phenomena. But because the results have a roll-over effect in varying measure, they get analysed threadbare &mdash; and with some hair-splitting added. Both the winner and loser has lessons to learn, and the one who imbibes them better stands the greater chance to stand high on the podium in the coming days. And so, the verdict on the political contests of 2017 can be a determinant for 2018 as well.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Two crucial elections happened in 2017, and while the end result was the same, the messages the electorate delivered were very different and the level of endorsement varied. That one of these confrontations took place early in the year and the other later as 2017 came near to a close, helped in establishing a &lsquo;beginning and end&rsquo; narrative. Except that every start is a new beginning and every end is the harbinger of a new beginning. It&rsquo;s this belief that keeps political parties going, losing steam one moment, gaining it the next. Of course, the one which recoups its losses the earliest stand the better chance of breasting the tape.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP began 2017 with a bang and the Congress with a whimper.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The former swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with a margin that even its staunchest admirers had not reckoned with. The Congress, which had tagged along with the Samajwadi Party, came to a cropper. There can be endless debate on whether the Congress sunk the Samajwadi Party or the reverse happened.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>With 80 Lok Sabha and 400 plus Assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh has often been the bellwether State. Parties that perform poorly here cannot hope to rule the country. Having won 71 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 on its own, the BJP had the difficult task to live up to the high level. The general sense during the Assembly poll campaigning had been that the party would return to power after nearly two decades in exile, but nobody saw the massive margin of victory coming. The wave flattened the Samajwadi Party, decimated the Bahujan Samaj Party and obliterated the Congress.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The messages were the following: Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s charisma was intact (he was the star campaigner for the BJP); the split in the Samajwadi Party as the result of a family feud had taken its toll on the party; the politics of appeasement does not work; talk of good governance still sells; caste considerations, while still relevant and on which both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP heavily rely on, now have limited appeal; and, the party which manages its macro as well as micro election strategies more smartly, using both manpower and technology, has the greater chance of victory.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh election threw up a dilemma for the Congress: Should it continue with the tactic of over-relying on strong local leaders or fire up its own local leadership to lead the battle?</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>By the time the Gujarat Assembly election came only months after the Uttar Pradesh poll, the Congress was still unsure on this front. For the first time in two decades, it sensed a chance to oust the BJP in the State, and yet there was also a feeling of diffidence. This led to its over-dependence on three young caste warriors whose affiliation to the Congress was tentative and their desire to align with that party was motivated by the prospect of little more than an immediate gain.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It cannot be denied that they - Mevani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore- impacted the final tally to an extent, reducing the BJP&rsquo;s number as compared to the 2012 figure and bettering the Congress&rsquo;s. But that impact was less than expected, since the BJP did succeed in containing the damage caused by the migration of a section of the Patidar community to the Congress camp. It did appear that, as in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had placed all its eggs in the basket of local leaders from outside the party.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It needs to be remembered that the BJP had been as weakened in Uttar Pradesh over the two decades preceding 2014 as the Congress had been. But while the BJP continued to work on its core strengths and weaknesses in the State, the Congress flirted with both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in a desperate bid to regain influence.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Gujarat too, instead of focusing on the discontent in rural parts, the disruptive nature of Goods and Services Tax implementation, and the general sense of anti-incumbency of two decades, the Congress outsourced its fate to caste leaders with little political experience. In the end, it was reduced to claiming &ldquo;moral victory&rdquo;, which means nothing in electoral politics.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The message for the BJP was that it could no longer take the voters for granted, even in Gujarat. Its tally fell by 16 seats as compared to 2012, although its vote-share went up. The party must recall the &ldquo;India Shining&rsquo; moment of 2004 and understand that support can dissipate almost as quickly as it comes. Recent political history is replete with such instances: 1977, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress to a debacle and also lost in her constituency; 1980, when the Janata Party collapsed and Indira Gandhi made a grand comeback; 1989, when Rajiv Gandhi led his party to a defeat, frittering away a three-fourth mandate.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Fresh battle lines will be drawn for 2018, which is a year of many important elections. If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation&rsquo;s democratic landscape. The Congress will seek to protect its turf in Karnataka and Meghalaya, while the BJP can expect a fight in the States its rules &mdash; Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rural-urban voting pattern will be tested in good measure, given that Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have a far larger number of rural constituencies than Gujarat has; the BJP did resoundingly well in urban Gujarat and relatively less well in the rural belt. Although each of these States has a different set of issues on which the voters will decide, common factors will be at play too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The first is the central leadership of the Congress and the BJP. As Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will now be even more than before pitted against his rival party&rsquo;s principal campaigner, Modi. The second is the local leadership of the two parties. Interestingly, while both have strong leaders, there are turf issues as well among these leaders. The State-level leadership tussle, thus, could be a decisive factor.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP had ruled Karnataka before, and so had the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. If the BJP manages to win over Karnataka and retain the States it governs, the Congress&rsquo;s prospects for 2019 would be bleak. Indeed, even a status quo would be fine for the BJP, though the loss in Karnataka can set back its plans for a south India foray.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>For the Congress, less than the best scenario would be to retain Karnataka and snatch at least one state from the BJP. That would be more than a &lsquo;moral win&rsquo;. The best case situation would, of course, be a complete victory in the north and the south. It&rsquo;s important that the party&rsquo;s new president creates his team well before these contests. Finally, there are de-railers in both the Congress and the BJP. They must be reined in.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation?s democratic landscape.

If today’s electoral outcomes were not to impact tomorrow’s, they would be dealt with as standalone and transient phenomena. But because the results have a roll-over effect in varying measure, they get analysed threadbare — and with some hair-splitting added. Both the winner and loser has lessons to learn, and the one who imbibes them better stands the greater chance to stand high on the podium in the coming days. And so, the verdict on the political contests of 2017 can be a determinant for 2018 as well. Two crucial elections happened in 2017, and while the end result was the same, the messages the electorate delivered were very different and the level of endorsement varied. That one of these confrontations took place early in the year and the other later as 2017 came near to a close, helped in establishing a ‘beginning and end’ narrative. Except that every start is a new beginning and every end is the harbinger of a new beginning. It’s this belief that keeps political parties going, losing steam one moment, gaining it the next. Of course, the one which recoups its losses the earliest stand the better chance of breasting the tape. The BJP began 2017 with a bang and the Congress with a whimper. The former swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election with a margin that even its staunchest admirers had not reckoned with. The Congress, which had tagged along with the Samajwadi Party, came to a cropper. There can be endless debate on whether the Congress sunk the Samajwadi Party or the reverse happened. With 80 Lok Sabha and 400 plus Assembly seats, Uttar Pradesh has often been the bellwether State. Parties that perform poorly here cannot hope to rule the country. Having won 71 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 on its own, the BJP had the difficult task to live up to the high level. The general sense during the Assembly poll campaigning had been that the party would return to power after nearly two decades in exile, but nobody saw the massive margin of victory coming. The wave flattened the Samajwadi Party, decimated the Bahujan Samaj Party and obliterated the Congress. The messages were the following: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma was intact (he was the star campaigner for the BJP); the split in the Samajwadi Party as the result of a family feud had taken its toll on the party; the politics of appeasement does not work; talk of good governance still sells; caste considerations, while still relevant and on which both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP heavily rely on, now have limited appeal; and, the party which manages its macro as well as micro election strategies more smartly, using both manpower and technology, has the greater chance of victory. The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh election threw up a dilemma for the Congress: Should it continue with the tactic of over-relying on strong local leaders or fire up its own local leadership to lead the battle? By the time the Gujarat Assembly election came only months after the Uttar Pradesh poll, the Congress was still unsure on this front. For the first time in two decades, it sensed a chance to oust the BJP in the State, and yet there was also a feeling of diffidence. This led to its over-dependence on three young caste warriors whose affiliation to the Congress was tentative and their desire to align with that party was motivated by the prospect of little more than an immediate gain. It cannot be denied that they - Mevani, Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore- impacted the final tally to an extent, reducing the BJP’s number as compared to the 2012 figure and bettering the Congress’s. But that impact was less than expected, since the BJP did succeed in containing the damage caused by the migration of a section of the Patidar community to the Congress camp. It did appear that, as in the case of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had placed all its eggs in the basket of local leaders from outside the party. It needs to be remembered that the BJP had been as weakened in Uttar Pradesh over the two decades preceding 2014 as the Congress had been. But while the BJP continued to work on its core strengths and weaknesses in the State, the Congress flirted with both the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in a desperate bid to regain influence. In Gujarat too, instead of focusing on the discontent in rural parts, the disruptive nature of Goods and Services Tax implementation, and the general sense of anti-incumbency of two decades, the Congress outsourced its fate to caste leaders with little political experience. In the end, it was reduced to claiming “moral victory”, which means nothing in electoral politics. The message for the BJP was that it could no longer take the voters for granted, even in Gujarat. Its tally fell by 16 seats as compared to 2012, although its vote-share went up. The party must recall the “India Shining’ moment of 2004 and understand that support can dissipate almost as quickly as it comes. Recent political history is replete with such instances: 1977, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress to a debacle and also lost in her constituency; 1980, when the Janata Party collapsed and Indira Gandhi made a grand comeback; 1989, when Rajiv Gandhi led his party to a defeat, frittering away a three-fourth mandate. Fresh battle lines will be drawn for 2018, which is a year of many important elections. If both the Congress and the BJP have absorbed the experiences of the year to soon end, we can expect fireworks that will light up the nation’s democratic landscape. The Congress will seek to protect its turf in Karnataka and Meghalaya, while the BJP can expect a fight in the States its rules — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The rural-urban voting pattern will be tested in good measure, given that Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have a far larger number of rural constituencies than Gujarat has; the BJP did resoundingly well in urban Gujarat and relatively less well in the rural belt. Although each of these States has a different set of issues on which the voters will decide, common factors will be at play too. The first is the central leadership of the Congress and the BJP. As Congress president, Rahul Gandhi will now be even more than before pitted against his rival party’s principal campaigner, Modi. The second is the local leadership of the two parties. Interestingly, while both have strong leaders, there are turf issues as well among these leaders. The State-level leadership tussle, thus, could be a decisive factor. The BJP had ruled Karnataka before, and so had the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. If the BJP manages to win over Karnataka and retain the States it governs, the Congress’s prospects for 2019 would be bleak. Indeed, even a status quo would be fine for the BJP, though the loss in Karnataka can set back its plans for a south India foray. For the Congress, less than the best scenario would be to retain Karnataka and snatch at least one state from the BJP. That would be more than a ‘moral win’. The best case situation would, of course, be a complete victory in the north and the south. It’s important that the party’s new president creates his team well before these contests. Finally, there are de-railers in both the Congress and the BJP. They must be reined in. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Will Congress's fortune see a turnaround in 2018?

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rupani-sworn-in-as-gujarat-chief-minister-modi-shah-in-attendance-27723">Vijay Rupani&nbsp;</a>is back in the chief minister&#39;s chair after having survived the incumbency factor and a violent quota stir by the Patidars.</p>

<p>Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) Rupani, 61, joined an RSS <em>shakha</em> as a schoolboy, before graduating to the BJP via the Sangh&#39;s students wing--the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).</p>

<p>Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the BJP&#39;s face in the high-octane election campaign in his home state, Rupani, belonging to the relatively small Jain community, steered the party machinery in Gujarat, neutralising the incumbency factor against his government and surviving quota stir by the Patidar community, the bedrock of the party&#39;s support base.</p>

<p>Also read:<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/know-the-gujarat-ministers-who-took-oath-along-with-vijay-rupani-today-27731"> Know the Gujarat ministers who took oath along with Vijay Rupani today</a></p>

<p>Rupani also successfully contained disenchantment with the government over farm distress in some parts of the state, and economic slowdown due to demonetisation and roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), also stood him in good stead.</p>

<p>Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/newly-elected-gujarat-cabinet-to-hold-first-meeting-tomorrow-27747">Newly-elected Gujarat cabinet to hold first meeting tomorrow</a></p>

<p>Despite the BJP&#39;s tally falling below 100 in a long time, Rupani&#39;s selection also suggested that the top party leadership wanted continuity before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.</p>

<p>Though only a second-time MLA, he made a mark as an able administrator.</p>

<p>Rupani, who worked mostly in the party organisation in Gujarat, fought his first Assembly election in 2014, winning a bypoll from Rajkot West. This time he won from the same seat with an impressive margin of over 53,000 votes.</p>

<p>A bachelor of law, Rupani was a Rajya Sabha member between 2006 and 2012.</p>

<p>It was under him as chairman of the Gujarat Tourism Development Corporation in 2006 that the hugely successful advertisement campaign &#39;<em>Khushboo Gujarat Ki</em>&#39;, featuring megastar Amitabh&nbsp;Bachchan, was launched to promote the state as a tourism hotspot.</p>

<p>He was also the chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board in 2013.</p>

<p>When the Rajkot West seat fell vacant in October 2014 after Speaker of the Assembly Vajubhai Vala was appointed the Karnataka Governor, Rupani won the bypoll.</p>

<p>On February 19, 2016 he was appointed the chief of the Gujarat BJP. It was seen as a victory for the Amit Shah camp in the state unit.</p>

<p>When the state&#39;s first and only woman chief minister Anandiben Patel resigned in August 2016 following allegations of inept handling of the Patidar and Dalit agitations, Rupani was catapulted to the hot seat.</p>

<p>Rupani honed his political skills in the crucible of the Gujarat Navnirman agitation, a socio-political movement in 1974 by students and the middle-class against economic crisis and corruption in public life.</p>

<p>It soon spread elsewhere, particularly in Bihar, where socialist legend Jayaprakash Narayan gave a call for &#39;Total Revolution&#39;.</p>

<p>The movement finally led to the fall of Indira Gandhi government and installation of the first non-Congress dispensation at the centre under Morarji Desai.</p>

<p>Rupani, who was then with the ABVP, was jailed for nearly a year during Emergency.</p>

<p>As the mayor of Rajkot in 1996-97, he endeared himself to people of the city with his initiatives for improvement of the civic infrastructure.</p>

<p>Rupani&#39;s mettle as a politician will be tested again in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Modi bids for a second shot at power.</p>

<p>Delivering Gujarat to the BJP is the least he would expect from Amit Shah&#39;s man in Gandhinagar.&nbsp;</p>


Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) Rupani joined an RSS shakha as a schoolboy

Vijay Rupani is back in the chief minister's chair after having survived the incumbency factor and a violent quota stir by the Patidars. Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) Rupani, 61, joined an RSS shakha as a schoolboy, before graduating to the BJP via the Sangh's students wing--the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the BJP's face in the high-octane election campaign in his home state, Rupani, belonging to the relatively small Jain community, steered the party machinery in Gujarat, neutralising the incumbency factor against his government and surviving quota stir by the Patidar community, the bedrock of the party's support base. Also read: Know the Gujarat ministers who took oath along with Vijay Rupani today Rupani also successfully contained disenchantment with the government over farm distress in some parts of the state, and economic slowdown due to demonetisation and roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), also stood him in good stead. Also read: Newly-elected Gujarat cabinet to hold first meeting tomorrow Despite the BJP's tally falling below 100 in a long time, Rupani's selection also suggested that the top party leadership wanted continuity before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Though only a second-time MLA, he made a mark as an able administrator. Rupani, who worked mostly in the party organisation in Gujarat, fought his first Assembly election in 2014, winning a bypoll from Rajkot West. This time he won from the same seat with an impressive margin of over 53,000 votes. A bachelor of law, Rupani was a Rajya Sabha member between 2006 and 2012. It was under him as chairman of the Gujarat Tourism Development Corporation in 2006 that the hugely successful advertisement campaign 'Khushboo Gujarat Ki', featuring megastar Amitabh Bachchan, was launched to promote the state as a tourism hotspot. He was also the chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board in 2013. When the Rajkot West seat fell vacant in October 2014 after Speaker of the Assembly Vajubhai Vala was appointed the Karnataka Governor, Rupani won the bypoll. On February 19, 2016 he was appointed the chief of the Gujarat BJP. It was seen as a victory for the Amit Shah camp in the state unit. When the state's first and only woman chief minister Anandiben Patel resigned in August 2016 following allegations of inept handling of the Patidar and Dalit agitations, Rupani was catapulted to the hot seat. Rupani honed his political skills in the crucible of the Gujarat Navnirman agitation, a socio-political movement in 1974 by students and the middle-class against economic crisis and corruption in public life. It soon spread elsewhere, particularly in Bihar, where socialist legend Jayaprakash Narayan gave a call for 'Total Revolution'. The movement finally led to the fall of Indira Gandhi government and installation of the first non-Congress dispensation at the centre under Morarji Desai. Rupani, who was then with the ABVP, was jailed for nearly a year during Emergency. As the mayor of Rajkot in 1996-97, he endeared himself to people of the city with his initiatives for improvement of the civic infrastructure. Rupani's mettle as a politician will be tested again in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Modi bids for a second shot at power. Delivering Gujarat to the BJP is the least he would expect from Amit Shah's man in Gandhinagar.

Vijay Rupani back as Gujarat's CM: The man who beat incumbency factor and Patidar stir

<p>As election season heats up in Gujarat and the media awaits the final &lsquo;masterstroke&rsquo; from the BJP President Amit Shah to quell the restive Patidars, public interest in the deeper underlying reasons for the social disquiet in the state remains limited. The media remains focused on individuals and their political moves. <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/gujarat-elections-2017-live-results-27014" target="_blank">As Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi toured the state over the past few weeks, the buzz around personalities and key players has acquired greater traction.</a></p>

<p>Three angry young men Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore Jignesh Mevani for whom Amit Shah derisively coined the acronym HAJ, are threatening to undermine the Vibrant Gujarat narrative and hurt the BJP&rsquo;s electoral performance.Though there is a good reason to believe that the BJP is resilient enough to contain the challenge, it is the attacks from the Congress on the already fraying development narrative in Gujarat, that has caused some alarm in the ruling establishment.</p>

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<p>Notwithstanding the angry voices of Alpesh Thakore representing OBC grievances, or Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani who first drew our attention to the atrocities against young men of his community at Una earlier this year, its Hardik Patel and the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) whose voice is heard loudest. This is not without reason. Hardik Patel the young man from Viramgam in North Gujarat has muddled the BJP&rsquo;s developmental and Hindutva agenda by resurrecting the issue of reservation his community had once so vehemently opposed.</p>

<p>Many among the Patels, however, argue that not only are Hardik&rsquo;s demands for reservation in the Other Backward Class category untenable but unrepresentative. These are the voices of those Patidars who have lived up to the popular image of the community as both affluent and dominant. They are industrialists, diamond merchants, real estate developers, and of course owners of large landed properties. &nbsp;With them are large sections of the Patidar diaspora too, the thousands that went out to live their dreams of prosperity in East Africa, the US, UK and later Australia.</p>

<p>So when a forty-thousand strong gathering filled the GMDC grounds in Ahmedabad on August 25th, 2015, most of us were in a state of utter disbelief. In all the long decade I&rsquo;d lived in the city, I never saw a political rally or a march comparable in scale to the ones I&rsquo;ve grown up within Kolkata. In fact, there were hardly any rallies at all. The Opposition was virtually decimated and civil society threatened and bullied into silence. So when the dramatic events of the day unfolded with the arrest of the young leader of PAAS, and the violence unleashed on his angry supporters later that night, it was evident that the there was a political churn in the state.</p>

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<h5>Gujarat model of development had rendered the reservation question redundant for all time to come.</h5>
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<p>That the churn would come from the Patidar community, known for their unflinching loyalty to the BJP, and through the seemingly &lsquo;unreasonable&rsquo; demand for reservations was doubly surprising.</p>

<p>Barring a few academics, most political commentators in the media had made us believe that the Gujarat model of development had rendered the reservation question redundant for all time to come. This was largely because it was the Patidars who spearheaded the violent anti-reservation agitations in the 1980s and had vigorously argued the case for &lsquo;merit&rsquo; as the prime driver of Gujarat&rsquo;s &#39;Vikas&#39;.</p>

<p>So it was not clear as to why some months ago, a song curiously titled &#39;vikas gando thhayachhe&rsquo; roughly translated as &lsquo;development gone crazy&rsquo; would go viral on social media and meld into the deep reserves of Patidar resentment.</p>

<p>For sociologists observing these developments over the longue duree, the Patidar churn is not surprising. For them what we see today are manifestations of a series of separate but inter-related social phenomena. Foremost among these are the peculiarities of the class/caste configurations that define the Patidars as a distinctive social group.</p>

<p>David Pocock one of the earliest anthropologists to study the community in the 1950s, described Patidars as intensely &lsquo;hierarchical and competitive&rsquo; and drew attention to the practice of hypergamy (the drive to marry one&rsquo;s daughter up) as the structuring principle of their community life. Even if the community cohered around kinship ties and common religious, sectarian or social values, he argued that the ceaseless drive to leverage power among wealthier Patidars normalised the existing inequalities within it.</p>

<p>Pocock studied these developments through documenting the historical process through which the Kanbi or a cultivating caste became the larger group known as Patidars in the mid-twentieth century. His study focused on the two main groups within the Kanbis, the Leva Kanbis and the Kadva kanbis.</p>

<p>These groups were distributed unevenly in the regions of the south, central and north Gujarat. The wealthiest among them, the Leva kanbis came from Kheda district in the fertile Charotar tract the region, lying roughly between Ahmedabad and Baroda while Kadvas resided in parts of northern and southern Gujarat.</p>

<p>The Kanbis, in general, were known to be skilled cultivators who lived in a spartan manner, remained committed to a strict work ethic and were the earliest to take to commercial agriculture. &nbsp;They directed their spending to improvements in farming and benefited greatly from the patronage they received from the British since the mid-19th century, particularly from the positions they acquired as tax collectors and village headmen known as patels.</p>

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<p>The wealthier within the caste developed new practices of collective holding and sharing the produce of large tracts of fertile land. They legitimised this new landholding order through deeds known as &lsquo;pattis&rsquo; from which the title Patidar acquired currency. They often farmed the richest areas of the village through hired farm labour of the lesser Kanbis.</p>

<p>Sociologists have long held that the Patidar community offered unique insights into the nature of social stratification and mobility within Gujarat pointing to the fact that far from being a conservative agricultural community, the Patidars were deeply aspirational. They moved from being agricultural labourers, to agrarian capitalists, to manufacturers and entrepreneurs. In the period between the World Wars they rose to prominence as Gandhian nationalists who drove the Kheda satyagraha under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).</em></p>


The Patidar group in Gujarat is an affluent and deeply aspirational group and that is why it is difficult to understand their demand for reservation

As election season heats up in Gujarat and the media awaits the final ‘masterstroke’ from the BJP President Amit Shah to quell the restive Patidars, public interest in the deeper underlying reasons for the social disquiet in the state remains limited. The media remains focused on individuals and their political moves. As Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi toured the state over the past few weeks, the buzz around personalities and key players has acquired greater traction. Three angry young men Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore Jignesh Mevani for whom Amit Shah derisively coined the acronym HAJ, are threatening to undermine the Vibrant Gujarat narrative and hurt the BJP’s electoral performance.Though there is a good reason to believe that the BJP is resilient enough to contain the challenge, it is the attacks from the Congress on the already fraying development narrative in Gujarat, that has caused some alarm in the ruling establishment. Hardik Patel the young man from Viramgam in North Gujarat has muddled the BJP’s developmental and Hindutva agenda by resurrecting the issue of reservation his community had once so vehemently opposed. × Notwithstanding the angry voices of Alpesh Thakore representing OBC grievances, or Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani who first drew our attention to the atrocities against young men of his community at Una earlier this year, its Hardik Patel and the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) whose voice is heard loudest. This is not without reason. Hardik Patel the young man from Viramgam in North Gujarat has muddled the BJP’s developmental and Hindutva agenda by resurrecting the issue of reservation his community had once so vehemently opposed. Many among the Patels, however, argue that not only are Hardik’s demands for reservation in the Other Backward Class category untenable but unrepresentative. These are the voices of those Patidars who have lived up to the popular image of the community as both affluent and dominant. They are industrialists, diamond merchants, real estate developers, and of course owners of large landed properties. With them are large sections of the Patidar diaspora too, the thousands that went out to live their dreams of prosperity in East Africa, the US, UK and later Australia. So when a forty-thousand strong gathering filled the GMDC grounds in Ahmedabad on August 25th, 2015, most of us were in a state of utter disbelief. In all the long decade I’d lived in the city, I never saw a political rally or a march comparable in scale to the ones I’ve grown up within Kolkata. In fact, there were hardly any rallies at all. The Opposition was virtually decimated and civil society threatened and bullied into silence. So when the dramatic events of the day unfolded with the arrest of the young leader of PAAS, and the violence unleashed on his angry supporters later that night, it was evident that the there was a political churn in the state. Gujarat model of development had rendered the reservation question redundant for all time to come. × That the churn would come from the Patidar community, known for their unflinching loyalty to the BJP, and through the seemingly ‘unreasonable’ demand for reservations was doubly surprising. Barring a few academics, most political commentators in the media had made us believe that the Gujarat model of development had rendered the reservation question redundant for all time to come. This was largely because it was the Patidars who spearheaded the violent anti-reservation agitations in the 1980s and had vigorously argued the case for ‘merit’ as the prime driver of Gujarat’s 'Vikas'. So it was not clear as to why some months ago, a song curiously titled 'vikas gando thhayachhe’ roughly translated as ‘development gone crazy’ would go viral on social media and meld into the deep reserves of Patidar resentment. For sociologists observing these developments over the longue duree, the Patidar churn is not surprising. For them what we see today are manifestations of a series of separate but inter-related social phenomena. Foremost among these are the peculiarities of the class/caste configurations that define the Patidars as a distinctive social group. David Pocock one of the earliest anthropologists to study the community in the 1950s, described Patidars as intensely ‘hierarchical and competitive’ and drew attention to the practice of hypergamy (the drive to marry one’s daughter up) as the structuring principle of their community life. Even if the community cohered around kinship ties and common religious, sectarian or social values, he argued that the ceaseless drive to leverage power among wealthier Patidars normalised the existing inequalities within it. Pocock studied these developments through documenting the historical process through which the Kanbi or a cultivating caste became the larger group known as Patidars in the mid-twentieth century. His study focused on the two main groups within the Kanbis, the Leva Kanbis and the Kadva kanbis. These groups were distributed unevenly in the regions of the south, central and north Gujarat. The wealthiest among them, the Leva kanbis came from Kheda district in the fertile Charotar tract the region, lying roughly between Ahmedabad and Baroda while Kadvas resided in parts of northern and southern Gujarat. The Kanbis, in general, were known to be skilled cultivators who lived in a spartan manner, remained committed to a strict work ethic and were the earliest to take to commercial agriculture. They directed their spending to improvements in farming and benefited greatly from the patronage they received from the British since the mid-19th century, particularly from the positions they acquired as tax collectors and village headmen known as patels. Sociologists have long held that the Patidar community offered unique insights into the nature of social stratification and mobility within Gujarat pointing to the fact that far from being a conservative agricultural community, the Patidars were deeply aspirational. × The wealthier within the caste developed new practices of collective holding and sharing the produce of large tracts of fertile land. They legitimised this new landholding order through deeds known as ‘pattis’ from which the title Patidar acquired currency. They often farmed the richest areas of the village through hired farm labour of the lesser Kanbis. Sociologists have long held that the Patidar community offered unique insights into the nature of social stratification and mobility within Gujarat pointing to the fact that far from being a conservative agricultural community, the Patidars were deeply aspirational. They moved from being agricultural labourers, to agrarian capitalists, to manufacturers and entrepreneurs. In the period between the World Wars they rose to prominence as Gandhian nationalists who drove the Kheda satyagraha under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion: Congress is leading in Patidar districts. Why?

<p>New Congress President Rahul Gandhi has his work cut out for him.</p>

<p>Following the election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Monday, the Congress -- the country&#39;s &quot;grand old party&quot; -- is now left in power in only four states in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.</p>

<p>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/election-results-bjp-wins-gujaratand-himachal-27098">Election results prove country ready for reform: Modi after Gujarat win</a></p>

<p>Since coming to power at the Centre -- Modi had at the time promised to deliver a &quot;Congress- mukt Bharat&quot; -- the BJP has wrested Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Manipur from the Congress.</p>

<p>The Congress had ruled Maharashtra for over 15 years, and Assam for over 10.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/it-is-a-temporary-and-face-saving-win-for-bjp-says-mamata-banerjee-27094">It is a temporary and face-saving win for BJP, says Mamata Banerjee</a></p>

<p>The next battleground will be Karnataka, which is expected to go to the polls sometime in April or May next year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Victory in Gujarat and Himachal shows people have once again accepted PM Modi, his policies and Gujarat model. They&#39;ve voted for development and against corrupt Congress. It&#39;ll have positive impact in Karnataka,&quot; Karnataka BJP President said Monday after the BJP won Gujarat and HImachal.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had attacked Karnataka&#39;s Congress government over what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation.</p>

<p>He cited the murder of the&nbsp;journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying if&nbsp;the&nbsp;BJP came to power in the state it would catch her killers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There have also been killings of members of right-wing Hindu groups in Karnataka in recent months.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Singh also accused the&nbsp;Siddaramaiah government of trying to &quot;divide&quot;&nbsp;society, saying the state government should have refrained from celebrating Tipu Sultan&#39;s birthday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The &quot;divide&quot; though is really between two different forms of nationalism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Karnataka has been mulling the adoption of a state flag and there have been protests in the state against Hindi signboards.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Commentators say&nbsp;Siddaramaiah will deploy this &quot;sub-nationalism&quot; to counter Modi and the BJP&#39;s exhortation of &quot;nationalism&quot;.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram

New Congress President Rahul Gandhi has his work cut out for him. Following the election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Monday, the Congress -- the country's "grand old party" -- is now left in power in only four states in the country. The four states are Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Also read: Election results prove country ready for reform: Modi after Gujarat win Since coming to power at the Centre -- Modi had at the time promised to deliver a "Congress- mukt Bharat" -- the BJP has wrested Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Manipur from the Congress. The Congress had ruled Maharashtra for over 15 years, and Assam for over 10. Also read: It is a temporary and face-saving win for BJP, says Mamata Banerjee The next battleground will be Karnataka, which is expected to go to the polls sometime in April or May next year. "Victory in Gujarat and Himachal shows people have once again accepted PM Modi, his policies and Gujarat model. They've voted for development and against corrupt Congress. It'll have positive impact in Karnataka," Karnataka BJP President said Monday after the BJP won Gujarat and HImachal. On Sunday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had attacked Karnataka's Congress government over what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation. He cited the murder of the journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying if the BJP came to power in the state it would catch her killers. There have also been killings of members of right-wing Hindu groups in Karnataka in recent months. Singh also accused the Siddaramaiah government of trying to "divide" society, saying the state government should have refrained from celebrating Tipu Sultan's birthday. The "divide" though is really between two different forms of nationalism. Karnataka has been mulling the adoption of a state flag and there have been protests in the state against Hindi signboards. Commentators say Siddaramaiah will deploy this "sub-nationalism" to counter Modi and the BJP's exhortation of "nationalism".

After Himachal loss, Congress left in power in only four states

<p>With several exit polls predicting BJP&#39;s return with a clear majority in Gujarat, an independent candidate from Vadgam, Jignesh Mewani on Sunday rejected the predictions of the saffron party&#39;s win, saying the polls predictions are nonsense.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jignesh, who is a social activist and Dalit lawyer, said that BJP is definitely going to lose this time in Gujarat.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Exit Polls are nonsense. BJP is definitely going to lose this time and will not form the govt: Jignesh Mevani, Activist and candidate from Vadgam constituency <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GujaratElection2017?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GujaratElection2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/BCbRed4FHz">pic.twitter.com/BCbRed4FHz</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/942271155917922304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Jignesh also attacked the Gujarat model, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlights in his every address to the public, saying that it is nothing but a deception and the people of the state understand it.</p>

<p>In his earlier interview to a leading daily, the social activist went on to say that nobody in Gujarat wants a bullet train and people would be more happy with decent medical facilities in primary and district healthcare centres.</p>

<p>Vadgam constituency has an electoral population of about 2.42 lakhs, of which there are about 74,000 Muslims, 42,000 Dalits, 25,000 Thakors, 8,000 Darbars, 9,000 Prajapatis, 4,000 Brahmins and about 25,000 Chaudharies.</p>

<p>The counting of votes for the 182 assembly seats of Gujarat will begin at 8 a.m. on Monday.&nbsp;</p>


The independent candidate from Vadgam also attacked the 'Gujarat model', saying it is nothing but a deception

With several exit polls predicting BJP's return with a clear majority in Gujarat, an independent candidate from Vadgam, Jignesh Mewani on Sunday rejected the predictions of the saffron party's win, saying the polls predictions are nonsense. Jignesh, who is a social activist and Dalit lawyer, said that BJP is definitely going to lose this time in Gujarat. Exit Polls are nonsense. BJP is definitely going to lose this time and will not form the govt: Jignesh Mevani, Activist and candidate from Vadgam constituency #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/BCbRed4FHz — ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2017 × Jignesh also attacked the Gujarat model, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlights in his every address to the public, saying that it is nothing but a deception and the people of the state understand it. In his earlier interview to a leading daily, the social activist went on to say that nobody in Gujarat wants a bullet train and people would be more happy with decent medical facilities in primary and district healthcare centres. Vadgam constituency has an electoral population of about 2.42 lakhs, of which there are about 74,000 Muslims, 42,000 Dalits, 25,000 Thakors, 8,000 Darbars, 9,000 Prajapatis, 4,000 Brahmins and about 25,000 Chaudharies. The counting of votes for the 182 assembly seats of Gujarat will begin at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Gujarat election result: Jignesh Mewani rejects BJP win predictions, says 'exit polls are nonsense'

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/cabinet-clears-triple-talaq-bill-3-years-jail-for-guilty-husbands-in-proposed-law-26824">Cabinet clears triple talaq bill, 3 years jail for guilty husbands in proposed law</a></p>

<p>The Union cabinet on Friday cleared the triple talaq bill.</p>

<p>Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Cabinet had approved a proposal to introduce the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, to make instant triple talaq void and illegal.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-agrees-with-government-aadhaar-to-be-linked-with-all-schemes-till-march-31st-next-year-26795">Supreme Court agrees with government: Aadhaar to be linked with all schemes till March 31st next year</a></p>

<p>Supreme Court has agreed with government&#39;s decision to link Aadhaar with all schemes till March 31st next year.</p>

<p>The five-judge Constitution bench also passed an interim order to extend the linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones in the country.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/sonia-gandhi-has-not-retired-from-politics-congress-26819">Sonia Gandhi has not retired from politics: Congress</a></p>

<p>The Congress party dismissed rumours that its chief Sonia Gandhi was retiring from politics.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The clarification came after there were media reports quoting Sonia Gandhi as saying that she will retire from politics once her son Rahul Gandhi takes over the leadership of the party.</p>

<p>MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Randeep Surjewala clarified on Twitter that Sonia Gandhi had retired as president of the Congress and not from politics.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/ngt-bans-plastic-items-in-towns-located-along-ganga-banks-26834">NGT bans plastic items in towns located along banks of Ganga</a></p>

<p>The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today imposed a complete ban on the sale, manufacture and storage of plastic items in towns located on the banks of the River Ganga in view of the pollution of the river caused by these items.</p>

<p>A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar banned items such as carry bags, plates and cutlery till Uttarkashi.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/congress-approaches-sc-seeking-cross-verification-of-at-least-25-vvpat-slips-plea-dismissed-26829">Congress approaches SC seeking cross verification of at least 25% VVPAT slips, plea dismissed</a></p>

<p>In a major set back to the Congress party, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed their plea seeking directions to the Election Commission to count and cross verify at least 25 per cent of paper trails generated by the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines with the actual vote tally in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Cabinet clears triple talaq bill, 3 years jail for guilty husbands in proposed law The Union cabinet on Friday cleared the triple talaq bill. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Cabinet had approved a proposal to introduce the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, to make instant triple talaq void and illegal. Supreme Court agrees with government: Aadhaar to be linked with all schemes till March 31st next year Supreme Court has agreed with government's decision to link Aadhaar with all schemes till March 31st next year. The five-judge Constitution bench also passed an interim order to extend the linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones in the country. Sonia Gandhi has not retired from politics: Congress The Congress party dismissed rumours that its chief Sonia Gandhi was retiring from politics. The clarification came after there were media reports quoting Sonia Gandhi as saying that she will retire from politics once her son Rahul Gandhi takes over the leadership of the party. MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Randeep Surjewala clarified on Twitter that Sonia Gandhi had retired as president of the Congress and not from politics. NGT bans plastic items in towns located along banks of Ganga The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today imposed a complete ban on the sale, manufacture and storage of plastic items in towns located on the banks of the River Ganga in view of the pollution of the river caused by these items. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar banned items such as carry bags, plates and cutlery till Uttarkashi. Congress approaches SC seeking cross verification of at least 25% VVPAT slips, plea dismissed In a major set back to the Congress party, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed their plea seeking directions to the Election Commission to count and cross verify at least 25 per cent of paper trails generated by the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines with the actual vote tally in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

WION Evening News Brief, December 15, 2017

<p>As voting for the final phase of Gujarat assembly ends today, a look back at how the motif of Modi&rsquo;s campaign rhetoric has evolved.</p>

<p><strong>2002: Aggressive BJP harvests polarisation</strong></p>

<p>Gujarat has been called a laboratory after Narendra Modi was sent from Delhi to take over the reins of the state. During the 2002 &nbsp;campaign, Modi and BJP had a simple job. The polarisation after the communal riots ensured all they had to do was to harvest the communal rift. The Congress, at that time the opposition party in the&nbsp;centre as well as the state, was clueless. It probably thought that to speak on justice for Muslims will impact their poll prospects. Six months after the riots broke happened the Akshardham terror attack, which took place just before the polls, ensured that Modi made it a Mia Musharraf vs Modi theme for the campaign that BJP won handsomely.</p>

<p><em><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-lanka-vikas-seaplanes-and-pesticides-the-curious-case-of-hardik-patel-26620"><strong>Also read: Opinion: Lanka, </strong></a></em><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-lanka-vikas-seaplanes-and-pesticides-the-curious-case-of-hardik-patel-26620"><strong><em>vikas</em></strong></a><em><strong><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-lanka-vikas-seaplanes-and-pesticides-the-curious-case-of-hardik-patel-26620">, seaplanes and pesticides - The curious case of Hardik Patel</a></strong></em></p>

<p><strong>2007: CM Modi firmly at the helm, Congress tries to get &nbsp;aggressive</strong></p>

<p>Buoyed by its 2004 Loksabha victory and winning 12 seats in the state, Congress took CM Modi head on. By this time, Mr Modi had already been established as the supreme leader of Gujarat, leaving behind, among others, Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta. As riot victims were still waiting for justice, polarisation continued unabated. Since the Congress government was at the centre, it became Modi&rsquo;s prime target.</p>

<p>Congress, in turn, did what it could not dare in 2002, called <i>Modi Maut ka Saudagar</i> (merchant of death) suggesting his direct role in riots. This backfired big time. BJP made it Gujarati Pride versus Congress rule of Sonia and Ahmed Mia. BJP&rsquo;s tally came down by 10 but it won the state.</p>

<p><b>2012: &lsquo;Gujarat Model&rsquo; emerges as social media booms, Congress reels under graft charges</b></p>

<p>2012 was PM Modi&rsquo;s last election as CM. The BJP had surged ahead by its clever use of new social media tools like the Facebook and Twitter. It boosted the &lsquo;unique Gujarat Model&rsquo; &mdash; sometimes truthfully and other times not. But Gujarat, development and Modi became synonymous terms even as Congress suffered huge image crisis during the Anna Hazare agitation of 2011-12.</p>

<p><em><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-gujarat-elections-is-26530"><strong>Also read: Opinion: Gujarat elections, a litmus test for Rahul</strong></a></em></p>

<p>Now Mr Modi needed no Praveen Togadiya or Acharya Dharmendra to serve as development planks. It soon became evident that Chief Minister Modi has the potential to be India&#39;s prime minister. Despite the party having 40 per cent vote, the Congress was unable to compete and lost to BJP again.</p>

<p><strong>2017 &lsquo;Gujarat Model&rsquo; goes on back burner and Pakistan returns</strong></p>

<p>A 15-year rule under one leader is really a long time in politics. What worked in 2012 is looking doubtful as crowd size at Modi rally was shrinking. By now, the BJP was no longer the exclusive player in the social media nor the biggest crowd puller. Opponents had taken a leaf out of BJP&rsquo;s books, including the Patidars.</p>

<p>The disgruntled youth flocking Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mewani&rsquo;s rallies were probably 6-10 year old during 2002-2007 but have been denied decent primary education; Gujarat ranks 33 among 35 states in terms of providing access to schools. Anti-incumbency ensured that basic issues, such as primary education, infant mortality, unemployment started factoring in.</p>

<p>Once the backbone of the party, Patels had turned into BJP&rsquo;s staunch baiters. With the presence of 15 per cent or more in most seats - they have potential to cover the gap between Congress and BJP. Add Dalit and OBC votes to it, and BJP suddenly looked vulnerable.</p>

<p>From &lsquo;Mia Musharraf&rsquo; in 2002, &lsquo;Gujarat Model&rsquo; in 2012 to again &lsquo;Pakistan connection&rsquo; in 2017, Modi had tried various catch-lines for his quest for Gujarat.</p>

<p>As desperate BJP tries to cling on to something or other, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh&rsquo;s secret &lsquo;Pakistan connection,&#39; the small traders were upset with BJP&rsquo;s GST and note-ban decisions, and Rahul and Hardik were pulling a huge crowd.</p>

<p>If BJP loses, it would be its second major loss after Bihar, wherein caste mobilisation of RJD-JDU-Congress had overcome religious polarisation of BJP in 2015. &nbsp;If Hardik - Jignesh - Alpesh&rsquo;s caste conscious agenda helps Congress win, it will once again prove that religious mobilisation can be countered by caste mobilisation.</p>

<p>If BJP still manages the victory, an emboldened BJP may opt for an unprecedentedly vicious 2019 campaign to beat anti-incumbency.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).</em></p>


From ?Mia Musharraf? in 2002, ?Gujarat Model? in 2012 to again ?Pakistan connection? in 2017, Modi had tried various catch-lines for his quest for Gujarat

As voting for the final phase of Gujarat assembly ends today, a look back at how the motif of Modi’s campaign rhetoric has evolved. 2002: Aggressive BJP harvests polarisation Gujarat has been called a laboratory after Narendra Modi was sent from Delhi to take over the reins of the state. During the 2002 campaign, Modi and BJP had a simple job. The polarisation after the communal riots ensured all they had to do was to harvest the communal rift. The Congress, at that time the opposition party in the centre as well as the state, was clueless. It probably thought that to speak on justice for Muslims will impact their poll prospects. Six months after the riots broke happened the Akshardham terror attack, which took place just before the polls, ensured that Modi made it a Mia Musharraf vs Modi theme for the campaign that BJP won handsomely. Also read: Opinion: Lanka, vikas, seaplanes and pesticides - The curious case of Hardik Patel 2007: CM Modi firmly at the helm, Congress tries to get aggressive Buoyed by its 2004 Loksabha victory and winning 12 seats in the state, Congress took CM Modi head on. By this time, Mr Modi had already been established as the supreme leader of Gujarat, leaving behind, among others, Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta. As riot victims were still waiting for justice, polarisation continued unabated. Since the Congress government was at the centre, it became Modi’s prime target. Congress, in turn, did what it could not dare in 2002, called Modi Maut ka Saudagar (merchant of death) suggesting his direct role in riots. This backfired big time. BJP made it Gujarati Pride versus Congress rule of Sonia and Ahmed Mia. BJP’s tally came down by 10 but it won the state. 2012: ‘Gujarat Model’ emerges as social media booms, Congress reels under graft charges 2012 was PM Modi’s last election as CM. The BJP had surged ahead by its clever use of new social media tools like the Facebook and Twitter. It boosted the ‘unique Gujarat Model’ — sometimes truthfully and other times not. But Gujarat, development and Modi became synonymous terms even as Congress suffered huge image crisis during the Anna Hazare agitation of 2011-12. Also read: Opinion: Gujarat elections, a litmus test for Rahul Now Mr Modi needed no Praveen Togadiya or Acharya Dharmendra to serve as development planks. It soon became evident that Chief Minister Modi has the potential to be India's prime minister. Despite the party having 40 per cent vote, the Congress was unable to compete and lost to BJP again. 2017 ‘Gujarat Model’ goes on back burner and Pakistan returns A 15-year rule under one leader is really a long time in politics. What worked in 2012 is looking doubtful as crowd size at Modi rally was shrinking. By now, the BJP was no longer the exclusive player in the social media nor the biggest crowd puller. Opponents had taken a leaf out of BJP’s books, including the Patidars. The disgruntled youth flocking Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mewani’s rallies were probably 6-10 year old during 2002-2007 but have been denied decent primary education; Gujarat ranks 33 among 35 states in terms of providing access to schools. Anti-incumbency ensured that basic issues, such as primary education, infant mortality, unemployment started factoring in. Once the backbone of the party, Patels had turned into BJP’s staunch baiters. With the presence of 15 per cent or more in most seats - they have potential to cover the gap between Congress and BJP. Add Dalit and OBC votes to it, and BJP suddenly looked vulnerable. From ‘Mia Musharraf’ in 2002, ‘Gujarat Model’ in 2012 to again ‘Pakistan connection’ in 2017, Modi had tried various catch-lines for his quest for Gujarat. As desperate BJP tries to cling on to something or other, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s secret ‘Pakistan connection,' the small traders were upset with BJP’s GST and note-ban decisions, and Rahul and Hardik were pulling a huge crowd. If BJP loses, it would be its second major loss after Bihar, wherein caste mobilisation of RJD-JDU-Congress had overcome religious polarisation of BJP in 2015. If Hardik - Jignesh - Alpesh’s caste conscious agenda helps Congress win, it will once again prove that religious mobilisation can be countered by caste mobilisation. If BJP still manages the victory, an emboldened BJP may opt for an unprecedentedly vicious 2019 campaign to beat anti-incumbency. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion:?BJP's catchlines which helped to win Gujarat elections

<p>As campaigning&nbsp;for the second phase of the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/opinion-gujarat-assembly-elections-2017-bjp-remains-buoyant-congress-rides-a-wave-hardik-patel-does-some-heavy-lifting-26524" target="_blank">Gujarat assembly elections</a> wound up a while back, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/gujarat-elections-modi-to-visit-ambaji-temple-on-last-day-of-election-campaign-26500" target="_blank">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> went on to share his thoughts around his experiences and what he feels will be the imminent result of Gujarat polls 2017.</p>

<p>In a series of tweets posted from his official Twitter handle, the Prime Minister expressed his happiness on being able to &quot;travel across the length and breadth of Gujarat to seek the blessings of the people&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017 ends. After three and a half years, I got the honour to travel across the length and breadth of Gujarat to seek the blessings of the people.</p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/940543703982018560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;During my travels across Gujarat, the level of affection I have received from the people is unparalleled in my 40 years of public life. This affection gives me strength and motivates me to devote all my time for India&rsquo;s development,&quot; PM noted.</p>

<p>Mr Modi urged people of Gujarat to vote in &quot;record numbers on the 14th&quot; and facilitate &quot;an overwhelming majority&quot; for the party&quot; across the state.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I urge my sisters and brothers of Gujarat to vote in record numbers on the 14th. I call upon the people of Gujarat to not only give the BJP an overwhelming majority but also ensure that BJP wins in every polling booth across the state.</p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/940543974686654464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Targetting the Opposition, PM Modi tweeted that the &quot;opponents&quot; have had been spreading lies about Gujarat, Gujarat&#39;s growth and about him (PM Modi).&nbsp;</p>

<p>He hoped that the combined efforts of the party in the centre and the one elected in Gujarat will bring prosperity and development to the country. &nbsp;&quot;This 1+1 is not 2 but 11 and together we will take Gujarat to new heights,&quot; he tweeted.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">With the Government of India and Government of Gujarat working together, the strength rises manifold. This 1+ 1 is not 2 but 11 and together we will take Gujarat to new heights.</p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/940544185068699648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>PM Modi also tweeted about the significance of youth in India&#39;s bright future and noted that&nbsp;&quot;no Gujarati will let go of a golden opportunity of development of our youth and coming generations. The victory of BJP is a guarantee for a bright future.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I am devoting my life for the betterment of crores of people of Gujarat and India. Have been fortunate to always get your blessings. I am sure you will continue to bless us in these elections too by voting for BJP.</p>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/940544373955031042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The remaining 93 constituencies in Central and northern regions in Gujarat will go to polls in the second phase on December 14.</p>

<p>Counting of votes is scheduled on December 18.&nbsp;</p>


PM Modi also tweeted about the significance of youth in India's bright future

As campaigning for the second phase of the Gujarat assembly elections wound up a while back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on to share his thoughts around his experiences and what he feels will be the imminent result of Gujarat polls 2017. In a series of tweets posted from his official Twitter handle, the Prime Minister expressed his happiness on being able to "travel across the length and breadth of Gujarat to seek the blessings of the people". Campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017 ends. After three and a half years, I got the honour to travel across the length and breadth of Gujarat to seek the blessings of the people. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2017 × "During my travels across Gujarat, the level of affection I have received from the people is unparalleled in my 40 years of public life. This affection gives me strength and motivates me to devote all my time for India’s development," PM noted. Mr Modi urged people of Gujarat to vote in "record numbers on the 14th" and facilitate "an overwhelming majority" for the party" across the state. I urge my sisters and brothers of Gujarat to vote in record numbers on the 14th. I call upon the people of Gujarat to not only give the BJP an overwhelming majority but also ensure that BJP wins in every polling booth across the state. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2017 × Targetting the Opposition, PM Modi tweeted that the "opponents" have had been spreading lies about Gujarat, Gujarat's growth and about him (PM Modi). He hoped that the combined efforts of the party in the centre and the one elected in Gujarat will bring prosperity and development to the country. "This 1+1 is not 2 but 11 and together we will take Gujarat to new heights," he tweeted. With the Government of India and Government of Gujarat working together, the strength rises manifold. This 1+ 1 is not 2 but 11 and together we will take Gujarat to new heights. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2017 × PM Modi also tweeted about the significance of youth in India's bright future and noted that "no Gujarati will let go of a golden opportunity of development of our youth and coming generations. The victory of BJP is a guarantee for a bright future." I am devoting my life for the betterment of crores of people of Gujarat and India. Have been fortunate to always get your blessings. I am sure you will continue to bless us in these elections too by voting for BJP. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2017 × The remaining 93 constituencies in Central and northern regions in Gujarat will go to polls in the second phase on December 14. Counting of votes is scheduled on December 18.

I devote my life to the betterment of people of Gujarat and India, tweets PM Modi

<p>As the polling for the first phase of Gujarat assembly election is about to start, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday expressed confidence about BJP&#39;s historic win.</p>

<p>Prasad said, &quot;The BJP will score a historic win. There will be three reasons of BJP&#39;s victory. The work of BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s leadership and his popularity and the way Congress insulted Modi. People of Gujarat will take revenge of this.&quot;</p>

<p>Reacting to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi&#39;s barb on BJP&#39;s manifesto, Prasad said the Congress has never fulfilled the promises made in its manifesto.</p>

<p>&quot;Congress releases manifesto but does not work whereas BJP works. If we had promised anything, be it electricity, water supply or development, we fulfil it. We are aiming for better,&quot; he added.</p>

<p>Rahul had alleged that Prime Minister Modi was silent about the future of Gujarat while slamming the ruling BJP for delaying the release of its manifesto.</p>

<p>Eighty-nine assembly constituencies are going for polls in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray.</p>

<p>The second phase will be held on December 14 for 93 assembly constituencies while counting of the votes will be done on December 18.</p>

<p>The crucial elections are being seen as prestige battle for BJP, which has been ruling the state for last 22 years, and a litmus test for the Congress.</p>


Reacting to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's barb on BJP's manifesto, Prasad said the Congress has never fulfilled the promises made in its manifesto

As the polling for the first phase of Gujarat assembly election is about to start, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday expressed confidence about BJP's historic win. Prasad said, "The BJP will score a historic win. There will be three reasons of BJP's victory. The work of BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his popularity and the way Congress insulted Modi. People of Gujarat will take revenge of this." Reacting to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's barb on BJP's manifesto, Prasad said the Congress has never fulfilled the promises made in its manifesto. "Congress releases manifesto but does not work whereas BJP works. If we had promised anything, be it electricity, water supply or development, we fulfil it. We are aiming for better," he added. Rahul had alleged that Prime Minister Modi was silent about the future of Gujarat while slamming the ruling BJP for delaying the release of its manifesto. Eighty-nine assembly constituencies are going for polls in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray. The second phase will be held on December 14 for 93 assembly constituencies while counting of the votes will be done on December 18. The crucial elections are being seen as prestige battle for BJP, which has been ruling the state for last 22 years, and a litmus test for the Congress.

BJP will score a historic win: Ravi Shankar Prasad

<p>On the evening of 3 December 1971, at about&nbsp;5:40 pm, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched surprise per-emptive strikes on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra, which was 300 miles (480 km) from the border. At the time of this attack, the Taj Mahal was camouflaged with a forest of twigs and leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the moonlight.</p>

<p>The marble&#39;s shine is less provocative these days, not because the structure decided to protest against the disparaging debate of why it could not be part of the state&#39;s tourism booklet but because it suffocates from the poor quality of&nbsp;debates on issues of air pollution. The debate is seasonal and the yearly trend is almost a decade old.</p>

<p>Even In 1942, during the World War II, Taj Mahal was covered in bamboo scaffolding as the British thought that the Taj Mahal was vulnerable to bombing by the German Luftwaffe bombers (and also the Japanese).</p>

<p>Taj Mahal, as a monument has fought against more than security threats and air pollution, its burqa is more than the coverage of twigs and bamboo. In the smog of political tussle and changing ideologies, it has on many occasion tugged to its burqa.</p>

<p>It almost tugged to its burqa when fictional novels questioned its existence and, based on sketchy facts, presented an alternate image of a temple which was converted to make place for the Taj. People agreed, not all although.</p>

<p>The Archaeological department installed a lab to check whether the city pollution and other pollutants were degrading the marble and its shine. To protect it, a mudpack solution was suggested. Wherein, the marble is polished by a certain mud. Rubbing mud and making it shiny. The deal is still on.</p>

<p>There is no research released on the gradual effect of time on the health of the Taj Mahal.</p>

<p>One of the wonders of the world, Taj Mahal often gazes at its nearest companion, the Mosque and tries to identify if anyone else is clad in similar shadow. When people walk by and look at the monument, whether the sense of belonging is national or anti-national. Whether such thoughts will make it leftist or something else.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The worlds largest democracy is trying to strengthen its defences and forces chose to look the other way as there was bounty announced on the head of the leading artist of a film named Padmavati.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Talking of safety and security, Pakistan government was ordered by a judicial review board to release Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of 26/11. The US had announced a $10 million bounty for Saaed for his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attack.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The thunder and storm began as the air cleared a bit, the prediction says, the suffocation will subside.</p>

<p>Taj Mahal looked the other way towards Ayodhya now, its 06 Dec.</p>

<p>The burqa stays...</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).</em></p>


The Taj Mahal is falling victim to chronic pollution and politicisation.

On the evening of 3 December 1971, at about 5:40 pm, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched surprise per-emptive strikes on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra, which was 300 miles (480 km) from the border. At the time of this attack, the Taj Mahal was camouflaged with a forest of twigs and leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the moonlight. The marble's shine is less provocative these days, not because the structure decided to protest against the disparaging debate of why it could not be part of the state's tourism booklet but because it suffocates from the poor quality of debates on issues of air pollution. The debate is seasonal and the yearly trend is almost a decade old. Even In 1942, during the World War II, Taj Mahal was covered in bamboo scaffolding as the British thought that the Taj Mahal was vulnerable to bombing by the German Luftwaffe bombers (and also the Japanese). Taj Mahal, as a monument has fought against more than security threats and air pollution, its burqa is more than the coverage of twigs and bamboo. In the smog of political tussle and changing ideologies, it has on many occasion tugged to its burqa. It almost tugged to its burqa when fictional novels questioned its existence and, based on sketchy facts, presented an alternate image of a temple which was converted to make place for the Taj. People agreed, not all although. The Archaeological department installed a lab to check whether the city pollution and other pollutants were degrading the marble and its shine. To protect it, a mudpack solution was suggested. Wherein, the marble is polished by a certain mud. Rubbing mud and making it shiny. The deal is still on. There is no research released on the gradual effect of time on the health of the Taj Mahal. One of the wonders of the world, Taj Mahal often gazes at its nearest companion, the Mosque and tries to identify if anyone else is clad in similar shadow. When people walk by and look at the monument, whether the sense of belonging is national or anti-national. Whether such thoughts will make it leftist or something else. The worlds largest democracy is trying to strengthen its defences and forces chose to look the other way as there was bounty announced on the head of the leading artist of a film named Padmavati. Talking of safety and security, Pakistan government was ordered by a judicial review board to release Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of 26/11. The US had announced a $10 million bounty for Saaed for his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attack. The thunder and storm began as the air cleared a bit, the prediction says, the suffocation will subside. Taj Mahal looked the other way towards Ayodhya now, its 06 Dec. The burqa stays... (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion: Pollution and politics through Taj Mahal's gaze

<p>From a strictly electoral perspective, the Scheduled Castes in Gujarat are not a very important factor. They constitute just seven per cent of the State&rsquo;s population. And since they are thinly spread across the State, their role in deciding the outcome of an election in the 182 Assembly seats is limited. Yet, their support is essential for both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for a different reason. The BJP&rsquo;s &#39;Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas&#39; slogan would sound ineffectual if the Scheduled Castes failed to vote for the party. The Congress&rsquo;s &lsquo;pro-poor&rsquo; image would take a beating if it could not win over this most marginalised section of society.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the Scheduled Tribes form 15 per cent of the State&rsquo;s population. This significant presence alongside the fact that they are largely concentrated in eastern Gujarat, gives them political leverage in, at least, 25 Assembly constituencies in the general category. Besides, they are also important for the &lsquo;inclusive development&rsquo;, a message the two main political rivals in the State have adopted to sound credible.</p>

<p>Taken together, the 22 per cent they represent is a formidable number. Add to it the number of reserved seats they share between themselves &mdash; 40 in all, with 13 Assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and 27 for Scheduled Tribes &mdash; and it is evident that this taken together is crucial for any political party&rsquo;s prospects in the coming State election.</p>

<p>If this is true, there is another reality. It is that the two groups do not have a common leader who can optimally exploit the strength for political empowerment. Nor do the SC and ST groups have common concerns, other than the abstract desire to lead a life that has more of dignity and social justice. Political observers, and definitely political strategists, realise that sharply delineated issues and not generalities work in electoral campaigns.</p>

<p>The Scheduled Castes have, at least ostensibly, found a messiah in Jignesh Mevani. He came into the limelight after the Una incident in 2016, when a group of cow vigilantes professing Right-wing credentials attacked members of the &lsquo;low caste&rsquo; community. That turned him firmly against the BJP. Earlier, Mevani had led a number of protests demanding land rights for the Scheduled Castes, but in those days he had no political leaning &mdash; or at least he did not overtly display them. He positioned himself as a champion of the rights of the underprivileged and claimed to have no political ambition. But last month he filed his nomination from the Vadnagar reserved seat. The Congress has not fielded any candidate from the constituency though it has a sitting MLA from there, and has decided to back Mevani. The Scheduled Castes leader has also decided to support the Congress in its battle against the BJP.</p>

<p>While he has taken the political plunge, it may not be smooth sailing for him. Upset that a seat which their party has held has been given to a non-Congressman, many grassroots workers of the Congress are reportedly preparing to put a spanner in the works. The BJP is working overtime to exploit the situation to its benefit. In any case, his political relevance is only proportional to the percentage of Scheduled Castes population in the State, and the fact that he is involved in a contest of his own will curtail his ability to canvas for the Congress across the State.</p>

<p>There is a general perception that the Scheduled Castes in Gujarat have traditionally favoured the Congress. This is not borne out by the electoral result of the 2012 Assembly election. The BJP had then won in 10 of the 13 reserved constituencies. It remains to be seen whether, in the new context, the party retains the sway.</p>

<p>The Congress had performed better with the Scheduled Tribes. Of the 27 seats reserved for this group in 2012, the party had triumphed in 16. The BJP had secured 10 seats while one went to the Janata Dal (United) candidate, Chotubhai Vasava. In the 2007 Assembly election, there were 26 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, of which the Congress had won 16 and the BJP, nine; one seat had then too gone to the Janata Dal (United). The BJP&rsquo;s situation was worse in the 1998 election, when it could win only eight of the 26 seats.</p>

<p>The Bhil community is the single largest constituent of the Scheduled Tribes, forming an overwhelming 45 per cent. The other important sub-group is the Bhopa Rabari whose members are largely concentrated in north Gujarat. It is no surprise that the two national parties are putting everything they have to get the approval of these two communities especially and the Scheduled Tribes in general.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Congress is banking on the &lsquo;failure&rsquo; of successive BJP regimes in the State to effectively implement the Forest Rights Act of 2006, which was supposed to provide title deeds of land claimed by the tribals under this law. Although nearly 70 per cent of disputed claims forwarded under the Act have been settled in the State, Gujarat still lags behind other States in the matter. According to a Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs data, the Gujarat Government had managed to distribute land to just 38 per cent of the claimants. This is the record, the Congress has claimed, of the BJP regime and reflects the latter&rsquo;s neglect of tribal rights.</p>

<p>But the BJP is confident that the surge of tribal support it has seen since 1998 will continue. It has been pulling out all stops to win over the Scheduled Tribes. Only recently, a tribal museum opened in Surat with a grant of one crore rupees from the University Grants Commission. While speaking at a public meeting recently in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the contribution of tribal leaders in the country&rsquo;s freedom movement. He laid the foundation stone for a tribal museum close to the Sardar Sarovar dam in Narmada district, and promised more such museums across the country.</p>

<p>The BJP&rsquo;s push for tribal support has also to do with the Hardik Patel factor. Realising that some of the Patidar votes may migrate from its camp to the Congress, now supported by Patidar leader Hardik Patel, the BJP is keen to make up for the deficit through enhanced votes from the Scheduled Tribes. It has placed hopes in the work that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been doing in the tribal belt of the State over the years. However, the Congress is in no mood to give up its advantage. If it can hold on to its support base among the Scheduled Tribes and Hardik Patel manages to deliver on his promise, the BJP could be at some disadvantage.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).</em></p>


Realising that some of the Patidar votes may migrate from its camp to the Congress, now supported by Patidar leader Hardik Patel, the BJP is keen to make up for the deficit through enhanced votes from the Scheduled Tribes.

From a strictly electoral perspective, the Scheduled Castes in Gujarat are not a very important factor. They constitute just seven per cent of the State’s population. And since they are thinly spread across the State, their role in deciding the outcome of an election in the 182 Assembly seats is limited. Yet, their support is essential for both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for a different reason. The BJP’s 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' slogan would sound ineffectual if the Scheduled Castes failed to vote for the party. The Congress’s ‘pro-poor’ image would take a beating if it could not win over this most marginalised section of society. On the other hand, the Scheduled Tribes form 15 per cent of the State’s population. This significant presence alongside the fact that they are largely concentrated in eastern Gujarat, gives them political leverage in, at least, 25 Assembly constituencies in the general category. Besides, they are also important for the ‘inclusive development’, a message the two main political rivals in the State have adopted to sound credible. Taken together, the 22 per cent they represent is a formidable number. Add to it the number of reserved seats they share between themselves — 40 in all, with 13 Assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and 27 for Scheduled Tribes — and it is evident that this taken together is crucial for any political party’s prospects in the coming State election. If this is true, there is another reality. It is that the two groups do not have a common leader who can optimally exploit the strength for political empowerment. Nor do the SC and ST groups have common concerns, other than the abstract desire to lead a life that has more of dignity and social justice. Political observers, and definitely political strategists, realise that sharply delineated issues and not generalities work in electoral campaigns. The Scheduled Castes have, at least ostensibly, found a messiah in Jignesh Mevani. He came into the limelight after the Una incident in 2016, when a group of cow vigilantes professing Right-wing credentials attacked members of the ‘low caste’ community. That turned him firmly against the BJP. Earlier, Mevani had led a number of protests demanding land rights for the Scheduled Castes, but in those days he had no political leaning — or at least he did not overtly display them. He positioned himself as a champion of the rights of the underprivileged and claimed to have no political ambition. But last month he filed his nomination from the Vadnagar reserved seat. The Congress has not fielded any candidate from the constituency though it has a sitting MLA from there, and has decided to back Mevani. The Scheduled Castes leader has also decided to support the Congress in its battle against the BJP. While he has taken the political plunge, it may not be smooth sailing for him. Upset that a seat which their party has held has been given to a non-Congressman, many grassroots workers of the Congress are reportedly preparing to put a spanner in the works. The BJP is working overtime to exploit the situation to its benefit. In any case, his political relevance is only proportional to the percentage of Scheduled Castes population in the State, and the fact that he is involved in a contest of his own will curtail his ability to canvas for the Congress across the State. There is a general perception that the Scheduled Castes in Gujarat have traditionally favoured the Congress. This is not borne out by the electoral result of the 2012 Assembly election. The BJP had then won in 10 of the 13 reserved constituencies. It remains to be seen whether, in the new context, the party retains the sway. The Congress had performed better with the Scheduled Tribes. Of the 27 seats reserved for this group in 2012, the party had triumphed in 16. The BJP had secured 10 seats while one went to the Janata Dal (United) candidate, Chotubhai Vasava. In the 2007 Assembly election, there were 26 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, of which the Congress had won 16 and the BJP, nine; one seat had then too gone to the Janata Dal (United). The BJP’s situation was worse in the 1998 election, when it could win only eight of the 26 seats. The Bhil community is the single largest constituent of the Scheduled Tribes, forming an overwhelming 45 per cent. The other important sub-group is the Bhopa Rabari whose members are largely concentrated in north Gujarat. It is no surprise that the two national parties are putting everything they have to get the approval of these two communities especially and the Scheduled Tribes in general. The Congress is banking on the ‘failure’ of successive BJP regimes in the State to effectively implement the Forest Rights Act of 2006, which was supposed to provide title deeds of land claimed by the tribals under this law. Although nearly 70 per cent of disputed claims forwarded under the Act have been settled in the State, Gujarat still lags behind other States in the matter. According to a Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs data, the Gujarat Government had managed to distribute land to just 38 per cent of the claimants. This is the record, the Congress has claimed, of the BJP regime and reflects the latter’s neglect of tribal rights. But the BJP is confident that the surge of tribal support it has seen since 1998 will continue. It has been pulling out all stops to win over the Scheduled Tribes. Only recently, a tribal museum opened in Surat with a grant of one crore rupees from the University Grants Commission. While speaking at a public meeting recently in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the contribution of tribal leaders in the country’s freedom movement. He laid the foundation stone for a tribal museum close to the Sardar Sarovar dam in Narmada district, and promised more such museums across the country. The BJP’s push for tribal support has also to do with the Hardik Patel factor. Realising that some of the Patidar votes may migrate from its camp to the Congress, now supported by Patidar leader Hardik Patel, the BJP is keen to make up for the deficit through enhanced votes from the Scheduled Tribes. It has placed hopes in the work that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been doing in the tribal belt of the State over the years. However, the Congress is in no mood to give up its advantage. If it can hold on to its support base among the Scheduled Tribes and Hardik Patel manages to deliver on his promise, the BJP could be at some disadvantage. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion: BJP trying to win over tribal communities in Gujarat. Why?

<p>BJP President Amit Shah told Rahul Gandhi on Sunday to &quot;please&nbsp;respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Shah, who was campaigning in Mahuva, Gujarat, said the Congress vice-president had asked for proof after the surgical strike carried out by the army in Pakistan.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;He (Rahul Gandhi) was asking, who saw the surgical strikes taking place?&quot; said Shah.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Rahul bhai, please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders,&quot; he added.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">When Uri terror attack took place, anger was brewing in the entire nation.<br />
Everyone thought PM would give a statement&amp; things will get over but this time it wasn&#39;t the government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh rather it was a govt chosen by you: Amit Shah in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gujarat</a>&#39;s Mahuva <a href="https://t.co/6uco6zh7hb">pic.twitter.com/6uco6zh7hb</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/937245797397098496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Within ten days Indian Army went to Pakistan, took revenge &amp; came back.Pak was left red faced&amp; Rahul Gandhi was demanding proof. He was asking, who saw the surgical strikes taking place? Rahul Bhai, please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders:Amit Shah <a href="https://t.co/bsIe0EqWAg">pic.twitter.com/bsIe0EqWAg</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/937246142026301440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>This was not the first attack on Gandhi on Sunday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had reacted to Rahul&#39;s &quot;development has gone mad&quot; comment by saying&nbsp;&quot;unke dimaag par taras aata hai&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;Development can slow down, it can speed up, it can stop, but does it ever go mad?&quot; Singh had said. Adding,&nbsp;&quot;And what do you call someone who says that?&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank">&#39;Unke </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank">dimaag</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank"> par </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank">taras</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank">aata</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/unke-dimaag-par-taras-aata-hai-rajnath-singh-on-rahul-gandhis-development-has-gone-mad-remark-25734" target="_blank"> hai&#39;: Rajnath Singh on Rahul Gandhi&#39;s &#39;development has gone mad&#39; remark</a></p>

<p>Gandhi had himself on Sunday accused the BJP government of not providing the women of poll-bound Gujarat with security, education, or nutrition.</p>

<p>Gujarat goes to the polls on December 9 and 14.&nbsp;</p>


Shah said Rahul Gandhi had asked for proof of the 'surgical strike'

BJP President Amit Shah told Rahul Gandhi on Sunday to "please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders". Shah, who was campaigning in Mahuva, Gujarat, said the Congress vice-president had asked for proof after the surgical strike carried out by the army in Pakistan. "He (Rahul Gandhi) was asking, who saw the surgical strikes taking place?" said Shah. "Rahul bhai, please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders," he added. When Uri terror attack took place, anger was brewing in the entire nation. Everyone thought PM would give a statement& things will get over but this time it wasn't the government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh rather it was a govt chosen by you: Amit Shah in #Gujarat's Mahuva pic.twitter.com/6uco6zh7hb — ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2017 × Within ten days Indian Army went to Pakistan, took revenge & came back.Pak was left red faced& Rahul Gandhi was demanding proof. He was asking, who saw the surgical strikes taking place? Rahul Bhai, please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders:Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/bsIe0EqWAg — ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2017 × This was not the first attack on Gandhi on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had reacted to Rahul's "development has gone mad" comment by saying "unke dimaag par taras aata hai". "Development can slow down, it can speed up, it can stop, but does it ever go mad?" Singh had said. Adding, "And what do you call someone who says that?" 'Unke dimaag par taras aata hai': Rajnath Singh on Rahul Gandhi's 'development has gone mad' remark Gandhi had himself on Sunday accused the BJP government of not providing the women of poll-bound Gujarat with security, education, or nutrition. Gujarat goes to the polls on December 9 and 14.

Rahul bhai, please respect honour & valour of jawans guarding borders: Amit Shah

<p>An Ahmedabad-based journalist quipped that the Congress had taken to HAJ this Assembly election in Gujarat. His reference was to the Hardik (Patel)-Alpesh (Thakore)-Jignesh (Mevani) trio which has cast its lot with the party and on whose traction the Congress is seeking to return to power after more than two decades in the State.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Hardik and Jignesh have their own reasons for opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Patidar leader wants reservations for his community which the BJP is unwilling to commit to. He is also upset with the state action against the pro-quota demonstrations over the last couple of years.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jignesh is a Scheduled Castes leader and is fuming over the Una incident in which a cow vigilante group had publicly flogged members of the caste in July last year, with the State authorities allegedly doing little to punish the culprits and certain members of the Union Government terming the matter as a &ldquo;small incident&rdquo;.</p>

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<h5>There is no indication that the other intermediate castes which are part of the OBCs are necessarily backing Alpesh Thakore, though he claims to be the leader of the larger OBC formulation.</h5>
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<p>But why is Alpesh Thakore a member of this bandwagon? The community he represents is part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) which enjoys the reservation benefit. His grievance, therefore, is not in common with that of Hardik Patel&rsquo;s. There have been no serious reported cases of violence or discrimination against the OBCs in Gujarat during the BJP rule, and, thus, he has no cause to fret like Jignesh Mevani. It is this lack of a definable purpose that makes Alpesh the odd man out. And yet, he has had his share of glory under the sun when he was recently inducted into the Congress at a high-profile function in the presence of no less a figure than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.</p>

<p>The OBCs comprise around 40 per cent of the State&rsquo;s population and they are spread across Gujarat, which makes them all the more critical in terms of seats. It is generally believed that the OBCs can influence results in more than 70 of the Assembly 182 seats &mdash; higher than any other single group can. But the Thakore community is only one of the many OBCs. In itself, it cannot make any major difference to electoral results. There is also no indication that the other intermediate castes which are part of the OBCs are necessarily backing Alpesh Thakore, though he claims to be the leader of the larger OBC formulation.</p>

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<h5>My taxi driver in Ahmedabad, a Thakore, put it bluntly that he was both OBC and Kshatriya, depending on the situation!</h5>
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<p>Besides, there is a caste confusion which makes the situation more complex. The Thakore community sees itself as part of the larger Kshatriya grouping &mdash; something which the latter resents. Other members of the OBC also view this tactic as a Thakore ploy to have the best of both worlds. My taxi driver in Ahmedabad, a Thakore, put it bluntly that he was both OBC and Kshatriya, depending on the situation! The Thakores may not be as well off as the Patidars but they are also not so marginalised as to be seen as credible victims of State apathy.</p>

<p>The Thakore community has, generally, voted for the Congress in previous elections, and so Alpesh Thakore&rsquo;s decision to align with the party this time should not surprise anyone. This is the only explanation which is on offer, but it does not still explain what Alpesh has against the BJP or what the issues are which he plans to raise before the voters in favour of the Congress or against the BJP. Up until now, he has been merely harping on generalities: Voters want a change after two decades of BJP rule; the ruling party has ignored the marginalised; the Congress has traditionally been a well-wisher of the weaker sections of society, etc.</p>

<p>Alpesh Thakore faces another problem, which is personal. He is seen as a rank opportunist, and even his supporters this columnist spoke to in Mehsana, and a few who hailed from Rajkot, admit that the youth leader had been less than transparent in his political stance. Months before he joined the Congress, Alpesh had reportedly confabulated with senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah. The talks were to work out a deal for providing Assembly tickets to OBC &mdash; and especially Thakore community &mdash; leaders.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Nothing came out of Alpesh&#39;s discussion with the BJP, probably for two reasons. The first is that Alpesh Thakore may have demanded more than what the party could offer to his outfit, the OBC, SC and ST (OSS) Ekta Manch. The second is that the BJP believed its own pro-OBC credentials were strong enough &mdash; Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the OBC &mdash; and that it need not have to give in to the demands of a newcomer. The failure to strike an arrangement with the BJP led Alpesh Thakore to the Congress, which was all too happy to snap him up.</p>

<p>People also snigger than Alpesh Thakore is a BJP creation who was programmed to blunt the Hardik Patel factor but has now turned hostile. There may be an element of truth in this. But this raises another question. With the Patidars and the OBCs to which the Thakores belong, working at cross-purposes at the grassroots level for years, how will the convergence of votes between them happen? Alpesh Thakore rose to prominence alongside Hardik Patel when he opposed the Patidar agitation for reservations, but along the way he suddenly got himself added to the camp which housed the Patidar leader. The non-Thakore communities are not amused.</p>

<p>Alpesh Thakore&rsquo;s credibility (or lack of it, according to his detractors) is what will determine the success of his alignment with the Congress. Indeed, the demonstration of credibility is his strongest challenge. Until months ago, he had claimed to be equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP, and fully committed to the cause of OBC welfare. He wanted a Ram temple in Gujarat and a ban on cow slaughter. He blamed both the Congress and the BJP for a host of social problems, and wanted the prohibition policy to be more stringently implemented in Gujarat.</p>

<p>But that is all in the past, and Alpesh Thakore is now one of the star campaigners of the Congress in the State. It is possible that some of his star attraction may rub off on a few of the other OBCs, besides his own community. Will it be good enough for the Congress, remains to be seen? Meanwhile, the OBC leader can continue with his vague promises on equally vague issues. As the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said, &ldquo;Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers.&rdquo;</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity)</em></p>


Alpesh wanted a Ram temple in Gujarat and a ban on cow slaughter. He blamed both the Congress and the BJP for a host of social problems, and wanted the prohibition policy to be more stringently implemented in Gujarat.

An Ahmedabad-based journalist quipped that the Congress had taken to HAJ this Assembly election in Gujarat. His reference was to the Hardik (Patel)-Alpesh (Thakore)-Jignesh (Mevani) trio which has cast its lot with the party and on whose traction the Congress is seeking to return to power after more than two decades in the State. Hardik and Jignesh have their own reasons for opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Patidar leader wants reservations for his community which the BJP is unwilling to commit to. He is also upset with the state action against the pro-quota demonstrations over the last couple of years. Jignesh is a Scheduled Castes leader and is fuming over the Una incident in which a cow vigilante group had publicly flogged members of the caste in July last year, with the State authorities allegedly doing little to punish the culprits and certain members of the Union Government terming the matter as a “small incident”. There is no indication that the other intermediate castes which are part of the OBCs are necessarily backing Alpesh Thakore, though he claims to be the leader of the larger OBC formulation. × But why is Alpesh Thakore a member of this bandwagon? The community he represents is part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) which enjoys the reservation benefit. His grievance, therefore, is not in common with that of Hardik Patel’s. There have been no serious reported cases of violence or discrimination against the OBCs in Gujarat during the BJP rule, and, thus, he has no cause to fret like Jignesh Mevani. It is this lack of a definable purpose that makes Alpesh the odd man out. And yet, he has had his share of glory under the sun when he was recently inducted into the Congress at a high-profile function in the presence of no less a figure than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The OBCs comprise around 40 per cent of the State’s population and they are spread across Gujarat, which makes them all the more critical in terms of seats. It is generally believed that the OBCs can influence results in more than 70 of the Assembly 182 seats — higher than any other single group can. But the Thakore community is only one of the many OBCs. In itself, it cannot make any major difference to electoral results. There is also no indication that the other intermediate castes which are part of the OBCs are necessarily backing Alpesh Thakore, though he claims to be the leader of the larger OBC formulation. My taxi driver in Ahmedabad, a Thakore, put it bluntly that he was both OBC and Kshatriya, depending on the situation! × Besides, there is a caste confusion which makes the situation more complex. The Thakore community sees itself as part of the larger Kshatriya grouping — something which the latter resents. Other members of the OBC also view this tactic as a Thakore ploy to have the best of both worlds. My taxi driver in Ahmedabad, a Thakore, put it bluntly that he was both OBC and Kshatriya, depending on the situation! The Thakores may not be as well off as the Patidars but they are also not so marginalised as to be seen as credible victims of State apathy. The Thakore community has, generally, voted for the Congress in previous elections, and so Alpesh Thakore’s decision to align with the party this time should not surprise anyone. This is the only explanation which is on offer, but it does not still explain what Alpesh has against the BJP or what the issues are which he plans to raise before the voters in favour of the Congress or against the BJP. Up until now, he has been merely harping on generalities: Voters want a change after two decades of BJP rule; the ruling party has ignored the marginalised; the Congress has traditionally been a well-wisher of the weaker sections of society, etc. Alpesh Thakore faces another problem, which is personal. He is seen as a rank opportunist, and even his supporters this columnist spoke to in Mehsana, and a few who hailed from Rajkot, admit that the youth leader had been less than transparent in his political stance. Months before he joined the Congress, Alpesh had reportedly confabulated with senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah. The talks were to work out a deal for providing Assembly tickets to OBC — and especially Thakore community — leaders. The failure to strike an arrangement with the BJP led Alpesh Thakore to the Congress, which was all too happy to snap him up. × Nothing came out of Alpesh's discussion with the BJP, probably for two reasons. The first is that Alpesh Thakore may have demanded more than what the party could offer to his outfit, the OBC, SC and ST (OSS) Ekta Manch. The second is that the BJP believed its own pro-OBC credentials were strong enough — Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the OBC — and that it need not have to give in to the demands of a newcomer. The failure to strike an arrangement with the BJP led Alpesh Thakore to the Congress, which was all too happy to snap him up. People also snigger than Alpesh Thakore is a BJP creation who was programmed to blunt the Hardik Patel factor but has now turned hostile. There may be an element of truth in this. But this raises another question. With the Patidars and the OBCs to which the Thakores belong, working at cross-purposes at the grassroots level for years, how will the convergence of votes between them happen? Alpesh Thakore rose to prominence alongside Hardik Patel when he opposed the Patidar agitation for reservations, but along the way he suddenly got himself added to the camp which housed the Patidar leader. The non-Thakore communities are not amused. Alpesh Thakore’s credibility (or lack of it, according to his detractors) is what will determine the success of his alignment with the Congress. Indeed, the demonstration of credibility is his strongest challenge. Until months ago, he had claimed to be equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP, and fully committed to the cause of OBC welfare. He wanted a Ram temple in Gujarat and a ban on cow slaughter. He blamed both the Congress and the BJP for a host of social problems, and wanted the prohibition policy to be more stringently implemented in Gujarat. But that is all in the past, and Alpesh Thakore is now one of the star campaigners of the Congress in the State. It is possible that some of his star attraction may rub off on a few of the other OBCs, besides his own community. Will it be good enough for the Congress, remains to be seen? Meanwhile, the OBC leader can continue with his vague promises on equally vague issues. As the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev said, “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers.” (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity)

Opinion: Alpesh Thakore's main drawback is lack of credibility

<p>Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poll-bound Gujarat on Friday and alleged that the latter did not want the &quot;truth&quot; behind the multi-crore Rafale deal and Jay Shah issue to come out before the Assembly election in his home state.</p>

<p>He also alleged that the NDA government was delaying the Winter Session of Parliament as Modi was not ready to discuss the Rafale and Jay Shah issues in the House before the Gujarat polls.</p>

<p>&quot;I would ask Modi<em>ji </em>three questions (on the Rafale deal). First, is there a difference in the cost of planes in the first and the second contract (signed with a French firm) and did India pay more or less money as per the second contract?</p>

<p>&quot;And, has the industrialist (whose company has formed a joint venture with the French firm), who was given the contract, ever manufactured planes?,&quot; he asked while addressing a public gathering here in Gandhinagar district.</p>

<p>The Congress leader also sought to know if the due procedure was followed while inking the deal with France last year to procure the Rafale fighter jets.</p>

<p>&quot;And a more important question, did you follow the due government procedure? Why the (then) was the defence minister was seen catching fish in Goa? And, was an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security taken (for the mega-deal)?&quot; he asked.</p>

<p>The Congress vice-president alleged that the prime minister was avoiding answering these questions due to the fear that the &quot;truth&quot; would come out before the crucial polls in his home state.</p>

<p>&quot;Narendra Modiji is not replying to these questions because he wants that the truth of Rafale and Jay Shah should not come before the public ahead of the Gujarat elections,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>&quot;Rafale is a matter related to the Indian Air Force, national security, martyrs. Modiji will have to answer these questions before the people of the country and Gujarat,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The 47-year-old Amethi MP said while the media persons asked him a lot of questions, they did not do the same with the prime minister over the Rafale and Jay Shah issues.</p>

<p>&quot;Modiji will make many tours of Gujarat. Press reporters ask me various questions. Why don&#39;t you ask Modi about the Rafale deal and Jay Shah? The people should also ask Modiji about Rafale and Jay Shah when he comes to Gujarat,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The prime minister is scheduled to address a series of poll rallies in Gujarat in support of the BJP candidates next week.</p>

<p>The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.</p>


'Narendra Modiji is not replying to these questions because he wants that the truth of Rafale and Jay Shah should not come before the public ahead of the Gujarat elections,' said the Congress vice-president

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in poll-bound Gujarat on Friday and alleged that the latter did not want the "truth" behind the multi-crore Rafale deal and Jay Shah issue to come out before the Assembly election in his home state. He also alleged that the NDA government was delaying the Winter Session of Parliament as Modi was not ready to discuss the Rafale and Jay Shah issues in the House before the Gujarat polls. "I would ask Modiji three questions (on the Rafale deal). First, is there a difference in the cost of planes in the first and the second contract (signed with a French firm) and did India pay more or less money as per the second contract? "And, has the industrialist (whose company has formed a joint venture with the French firm), who was given the contract, ever manufactured planes?," he asked while addressing a public gathering here in Gandhinagar district. The Congress leader also sought to know if the due procedure was followed while inking the deal with France last year to procure the Rafale fighter jets. "And a more important question, did you follow the due government procedure? Why the (then) was the defence minister was seen catching fish in Goa? And, was an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security taken (for the mega-deal)?" he asked. The Congress vice-president alleged that the prime minister was avoiding answering these questions due to the fear that the "truth" would come out before the crucial polls in his home state. "Narendra Modiji is not replying to these questions because he wants that the truth of Rafale and Jay Shah should not come before the public ahead of the Gujarat elections," he said. "Rafale is a matter related to the Indian Air Force, national security, martyrs. Modiji will have to answer these questions before the people of the country and Gujarat," he said. The 47-year-old Amethi MP said while the media persons asked him a lot of questions, they did not do the same with the prime minister over the Rafale and Jay Shah issues. "Modiji will make many tours of Gujarat. Press reporters ask me various questions. Why don't you ask Modi about the Rafale deal and Jay Shah? The people should also ask Modiji about Rafale and Jay Shah when he comes to Gujarat," he said. The prime minister is scheduled to address a series of poll rallies in Gujarat in support of the BJP candidates next week. The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases -- on December 9 and 14. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Rahul trains guns on PM Modi over Rafale deal, again

<p>&quot;When I gave the taxi driver at Ahmedabad airport the name of a nondescript hotel as my address, he looked at me pityingly and asked, &ldquo;Chota-mota dhanda hai (Are you engaged in petty business)? I readily agreed and said I was in the business of journalism and had come to study the election; I had been there in 2012 also. He perked up and in the course of the 40-minute journey assured me that change would happen in Gujarat. &ldquo;The BJP will be voted out. Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakore will ensure that.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Across north Gujarat and Saurashtra, the Patidars were backing Hardik Patel&rsquo;s reservation agenda and would vote against the BJP.</h5>
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<p>Is Hardik Patel really a challenge, I asked. Does he command the majority support of the Patidar community, I wondered. The taxi driver responded, &ldquo;If he were not a challenge, why is the BJP doing so much to discredit him? And why has the party launched a desperate drive to retain the Patel votes?&rdquo; Across north Gujarat and Saurashtra, he claimed, the Patidars were backing Hardik Patel&rsquo;s reservation agenda and would vote against the BJP.</p>

<p>I assumed by his stiff defence of the young Patel leader that he was a votary of reservation for the Patidar community in the State. His answer was surprising. &ldquo;The Patidars don&rsquo;t deserve reservation. They are financially, educationally and socially well off.&rdquo; Before I could respond, he added, &ldquo;You must be amazed. I am backing Hardik Patel because he is today in my community leader Alpesh Thakore&rsquo;s side.&quot;</p>

<p>The Thakores belong to the Other Backward Class (OBC), and the taxi driver was a Thakore. He strongly suggested that I move around extensively in Mehsana, Patan, Sabarkantha and other parts of north Gujarat, and Ahmedabad too. &ldquo; You will realise that I am right. The BJP will lose this time. You came five years ago, but things are very different today.&rdquo; I assured him that I would visit as many of the places he had advised.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>BJP will emerge with a simple majority (100-plus seats) and form the Government yet again.</h5>
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<p>But after moving around throughout the day across the length and breadth of Ahmedabad (Thaltej, Vastrapur, Naranpur etc) and in Patan and Mehsana, the impression I had was far from the kind the taxi driver had predicted. The driver represented one kind of extreme outcome which found resonance among a clutch of people on the streets &mdash; the BJP&rsquo;s rout. A few others I spoke to in these towns and adjoining villages presented another extreme &mdash; that the ruling party would return to power with even more seats than it had in 2012.</p>

<p>Most of the people with whom I interacted on the subject foresaw a &lsquo;moderate&rsquo; outcome. They were agreed on three conclusions. The first is that the Hardik Patel factor has gained some traction for the Congress. The second is that the Patidar leader will cut into the Patel vote-bank of the BJP. The third is that, despite these setbacks, the BJP will emerge with a simple majority (100-plus seats) and form the Government yet again.</p>

<p>What also became evident through my interactions in Ahmedabad, Patan and Mehsana is that, at the ground level the Patidar and the Thakore communities do not see eye to eye. This is easy to understand. The Thakores belonging to the OBC resent the prospect of having to share the quota pie with the dominant Patels. It&rsquo;s not ideology that binds them together now; the desire to oust the BJP compels them to share the tent.</p>

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<h5>The turning point for the Patidars, according to a resident of Thaltej locality in Ahmedabad, was the crackdown by the State police on Patidar agitators in August 2015.</h5>
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<p>The turning point for the Patidars, according to a resident of Thaltej locality in Ahmedabad, was the crackdown by the State police on Patidar agitators in August 2015. Fourteen people had died in the violence. The subsequent action against Hardik Patel, including his incarceration and banishment from Gujarat for a while, was viewed as a humiliation of a proud community which had stood by the BJP for decades.</p>

<p>Or at least this is how the Patidar community led by Hardik Patel presented it before his people. The sentiment is echoed by Babubhai Patel, an elderly local in Mehsana. &ldquo;The BJP Government really brutalised the Patidar community through its action. The lathi-charge cannot be forgotten. We would not have turned against the party but for this act of atrocity.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The Thaltej resident, who belongs to the OBC and did not wish to be named, remarked, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that the Congress is liked by us. It has been disastrous for Gujarat in the past. But if it can manage Hardik Patel properly, it can gain significantly.&rdquo; The anti-BJP sentiment, according to him, the taxi driver and a few&nbsp;other spoken to, is such that the voters are willing to ignore the development work BJP regimes have done over the years, and the failures of the Congress too.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Was this an all-pervasive mood? Not really. The manager of the hotel I stayed in, and who appeared politically well-informed, smirked at the proposition. &ldquo;Do not over-estimate Hardik Patel,&rdquo; he warned. &ldquo;Because of his youth and enthusiasm and Congress support, he has begun to look larger-than-life. The Patidar outfit he heads is not the only Patel organisation that exists. There are others and those are as important. They are with the BJP. The Patidar votes will split, true, but not to the extent that the divide can harm the ruling party greatly.&rdquo;</p>

<p>He said that the Patels were an educated lot and socially aware, and they realise that Hardik Patel was leading them up the garden path with his promise of reservation. &ldquo;How can he ensure his community reservation? The 50 per cent mark is already touched. The Congress&rsquo;s assurance is only on paper. It cannot be implemented.&rdquo; This line or reasoning was incidentally shared by several middle-aged and senior citizens.</p>

<p>But everyone is agreed upon the fact that Hardik Patel has taken a big risk and that things can go wrong. If the Congress fails to give the Patidars a credible and actionable plan of action for reservations, for instance. Or, if the Patels, who have been inextricably linked to the BJP for their socio-economic development and who now back Hardik Patel, develop cold feet over the disruption that may happen in case they vote against the BJP, keep themselves away from the polling booth. Or, if the Congress does not give the Hardik Patel-led organisation, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) a fair number of seats to contest.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>The Congress and the Hardik Patel-led Patidars, he said, represented the privileged system, while the BJP under Modi stood for inclusive development.</h5>
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<p>There is another danger, which even Hardik Patel&rsquo;s supporters acknowledge, even if grudgingly: That of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s ability to swing fence-sitting Patidar votes in his party&rsquo;s favour through a series of aggressive campaigns in the region. A 65-year old voter in Patan town remarked, &ldquo;Modi sabka magaj ghuma dega (Modi can change people&rsquo;s minds in his favour), adding, &ldquo;Also, don&rsquo;t forget the Gujarati pride (which the Prime Minister symbolises) issue.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Although Mehsana had been the focal point of the Patidar agitation, opinion there is not overwhelmingly against the BJP &mdash; or at least not as decisively as one might have expected. A 25-something (Patel) civil engineer who has ventured into the construction business said that while Hardik Patel was shrewd and manipulative, the BJP led by Modi &ldquo;can manage things at the last moment&rdquo;. He supported Hardik Patel&rsquo;s demand for reservation. &ldquo;Patidars need quota not so much in Government employment (we Patels either have land or are engaged in business or are salaried employees) but in educational institutions.</p>

<p>Why should we lose out to those who are less merited but get through because of quotas?&rdquo; On the other hand, a shop-keeper, vociferously supported by a bunch of youngsters around him, bluntly said, &ldquo;Hardik Patel cannot be trusted. He is neither mature nor responsible.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The sense of ambivalence that was reflected across Ahmedabad and in Patan and Mehsana towns, was replaced by clarity in the small Pimpal village, situated on the Mehsana-Patan road. Phulabhai Jeevabhai Rabari is a 30-year old who is engaged in the dairy business. The Rabari community belongs to the OBC and is a beneficiary of the quota system.</p>

<p>He made light of the benefit and claimed that it made no difference to youngsters like him. &ldquo;We live by our skills and hard work. I don&rsquo;t like the reservation business.&rdquo; The Congress and the Hardik Patel-led Patidars, he said, represented the privileged system, while the BJP under Modi stood for inclusive development. &ldquo;The 2017 election is about development versus reservation&rdquo;, Phulabhai stated. A motley group of villagers seconded the opinion.</p>

<p>Perhaps Phulabhai hit the nail on the head. It does appear that the Assembly poll is just that.</p>


The Congress and the Hardik Patel-led Patidars represented the privileged system, while the BJP under Modi stood for inclusive development.

"When I gave the taxi driver at Ahmedabad airport the name of a nondescript hotel as my address, he looked at me pityingly and asked, “Chota-mota dhanda hai (Are you engaged in petty business)? I readily agreed and said I was in the business of journalism and had come to study the election; I had been there in 2012 also. He perked up and in the course of the 40-minute journey assured me that change would happen in Gujarat. “The BJP will be voted out. Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakore will ensure that.” Across north Gujarat and Saurashtra, the Patidars were backing Hardik Patel’s reservation agenda and would vote against the BJP. × Is Hardik Patel really a challenge, I asked. Does he command the majority support of the Patidar community, I wondered. The taxi driver responded, “If he were not a challenge, why is the BJP doing so much to discredit him? And why has the party launched a desperate drive to retain the Patel votes?” Across north Gujarat and Saurashtra, he claimed, the Patidars were backing Hardik Patel’s reservation agenda and would vote against the BJP. I assumed by his stiff defence of the young Patel leader that he was a votary of reservation for the Patidar community in the State. His answer was surprising. “The Patidars don’t deserve reservation. They are financially, educationally and socially well off.” Before I could respond, he added, “You must be amazed. I am backing Hardik Patel because he is today in my community leader Alpesh Thakore’s side." The Thakores belong to the Other Backward Class (OBC), and the taxi driver was a Thakore. He strongly suggested that I move around extensively in Mehsana, Patan, Sabarkantha and other parts of north Gujarat, and Ahmedabad too. “ You will realise that I am right. The BJP will lose this time. You came five years ago, but things are very different today.” I assured him that I would visit as many of the places he had advised. BJP will emerge with a simple majority (100-plus seats) and form the Government yet again. × But after moving around throughout the day across the length and breadth of Ahmedabad (Thaltej, Vastrapur, Naranpur etc) and in Patan and Mehsana, the impression I had was far from the kind the taxi driver had predicted. The driver represented one kind of extreme outcome which found resonance among a clutch of people on the streets — the BJP’s rout. A few others I spoke to in these towns and adjoining villages presented another extreme — that the ruling party would return to power with even more seats than it had in 2012. Most of the people with whom I interacted on the subject foresaw a ‘moderate’ outcome. They were agreed on three conclusions. The first is that the Hardik Patel factor has gained some traction for the Congress. The second is that the Patidar leader will cut into the Patel vote-bank of the BJP. The third is that, despite these setbacks, the BJP will emerge with a simple majority (100-plus seats) and form the Government yet again. What also became evident through my interactions in Ahmedabad, Patan and Mehsana is that, at the ground level the Patidar and the Thakore communities do not see eye to eye. This is easy to understand. The Thakores belonging to the OBC resent the prospect of having to share the quota pie with the dominant Patels. It’s not ideology that binds them together now; the desire to oust the BJP compels them to share the tent. The turning point for the Patidars, according to a resident of Thaltej locality in Ahmedabad, was the crackdown by the State police on Patidar agitators in August 2015. × The turning point for the Patidars, according to a resident of Thaltej locality in Ahmedabad, was the crackdown by the State police on Patidar agitators in August 2015. Fourteen people had died in the violence. The subsequent action against Hardik Patel, including his incarceration and banishment from Gujarat for a while, was viewed as a humiliation of a proud community which had stood by the BJP for decades. Or at least this is how the Patidar community led by Hardik Patel presented it before his people. The sentiment is echoed by Babubhai Patel, an elderly local in Mehsana. “The BJP Government really brutalised the Patidar community through its action. The lathi-charge cannot be forgotten. We would not have turned against the party but for this act of atrocity.” The Thaltej resident, who belongs to the OBC and did not wish to be named, remarked, “It’s not that the Congress is liked by us. It has been disastrous for Gujarat in the past. But if it can manage Hardik Patel properly, it can gain significantly.” The anti-BJP sentiment, according to him, the taxi driver and a few other spoken to, is such that the voters are willing to ignore the development work BJP regimes have done over the years, and the failures of the Congress too. Although Mehsana had been the focal point of the Patidar agitation, opinion there is not overwhelmingly against the BJP × Was this an all-pervasive mood? Not really. The manager of the hotel I stayed in, and who appeared politically well-informed, smirked at the proposition. “Do not over-estimate Hardik Patel,” he warned. “Because of his youth and enthusiasm and Congress support, he has begun to look larger-than-life. The Patidar outfit he heads is not the only Patel organisation that exists. There are others and those are as important. They are with the BJP. The Patidar votes will split, true, but not to the extent that the divide can harm the ruling party greatly.” He said that the Patels were an educated lot and socially aware, and they realise that Hardik Patel was leading them up the garden path with his promise of reservation. “How can he ensure his community reservation? The 50 per cent mark is already touched. The Congress’s assurance is only on paper. It cannot be implemented.” This line or reasoning was incidentally shared by several middle-aged and senior citizens. But everyone is agreed upon the fact that Hardik Patel has taken a big risk and that things can go wrong. If the Congress fails to give the Patidars a credible and actionable plan of action for reservations, for instance. Or, if the Patels, who have been inextricably linked to the BJP for their socio-economic development and who now back Hardik Patel, develop cold feet over the disruption that may happen in case they vote against the BJP, keep themselves away from the polling booth. Or, if the Congress does not give the Hardik Patel-led organisation, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) a fair number of seats to contest. The Congress and the Hardik Patel-led Patidars, he said, represented the privileged system, while the BJP under Modi stood for inclusive development. × There is another danger, which even Hardik Patel’s supporters acknowledge, even if grudgingly: That of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ability to swing fence-sitting Patidar votes in his party’s favour through a series of aggressive campaigns in the region. A 65-year old voter in Patan town remarked, “Modi sabka magaj ghuma dega (Modi can change people’s minds in his favour), adding, “Also, don’t forget the Gujarati pride (which the Prime Minister symbolises) issue.” Although Mehsana had been the focal point of the Patidar agitation, opinion there is not overwhelmingly against the BJP — or at least not as decisively as one might have expected. A 25-something (Patel) civil engineer who has ventured into the construction business said that while Hardik Patel was shrewd and manipulative, the BJP led by Modi “can manage things at the last moment”. He supported Hardik Patel’s demand for reservation. “Patidars need quota not so much in Government employment (we Patels either have land or are engaged in business or are salaried employees) but in educational institutions. Why should we lose out to those who are less merited but get through because of quotas?” On the other hand, a shop-keeper, vociferously supported by a bunch of youngsters around him, bluntly said, “Hardik Patel cannot be trusted. He is neither mature nor responsible.” The sense of ambivalence that was reflected across Ahmedabad and in Patan and Mehsana towns, was replaced by clarity in the small Pimpal village, situated on the Mehsana-Patan road. Phulabhai Jeevabhai Rabari is a 30-year old who is engaged in the dairy business. The Rabari community belongs to the OBC and is a beneficiary of the quota system. He made light of the benefit and claimed that it made no difference to youngsters like him. “We live by our skills and hard work. I don’t like the reservation business.” The Congress and the Hardik Patel-led Patidars, he said, represented the privileged system, while the BJP under Modi stood for inclusive development. “The 2017 election is about development versus reservation”, Phulabhai stated. A motley group of villagers seconded the opinion. Perhaps Phulabhai hit the nail on the head. It does appear that the Assembly poll is just that.

2017 Gujarat election: Development vs reservation

<p>The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the third list of 28 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.</p>

<p>The second list released on Saturday comprised 36 candidates while the first 70 candidates&nbsp;</p>

<p>Chief minister Vijay Rupani will contest the election from Rajkot (West), and his deputy, Nitin Patel, from Mehsana.</p>

<p>Elections in the state will be held in two phases, with 89 Assembly constituencies going to vote on December 9, and 93 on December 14.</p>

<p>Counting of votes will take place on December 18 for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly</p>


The second list released on Saturday comprised 36 candidates while the first 70 candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the third list of 28 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. The second list released on Saturday comprised 36 candidates while the first 70 candidates Chief minister Vijay Rupani will contest the election from Rajkot (West), and his deputy, Nitin Patel, from Mehsana. Elections in the state will be held in two phases, with 89 Assembly constituencies going to vote on December 9, and 93 on December 14. Counting of votes will take place on December 18 for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly

Gujarat election: BJP releases third list of candidates

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<p>China&#39;s foreign minister Wang Yi on a visit to Bangladesh met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali even as the Rohingya refugee issue continued to spiral out of control.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-unhappy-over-ticket-distribution-paas-workers-vandalise-congress-office-in-surat-24609">Watch: PAAS workers in Gujarat clash with Congress over ticket distribution</a></p>

<p>Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) workers in the late hours of Sunday clashed with the Gujarat Congress party cadres in Ahmedabad and Surat</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Merkel&#39;s conservative party has been trying to reach a comprise with the FDP and Greens over immigration, climate change, European Union and taxes but hasn&#39;t reached a deal on any issue.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/gujarat-election-congress-releases-first-list-of-candidates-24607">Gujarat election: Congress releases first list of candidates</a></p>

<p>The list includes Shaktisinh Gohil, Indranil RajyaGuru, Dilipsinh A Gohil, Vallab Dharadiya&nbsp;and Arjunbhai Modhvadiya.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/70-magnitude-quake-off-new-caledonia-triggering-tsunami-warning-24608">7.0 magnitude quake off New Caledonia, triggers tsunami warning</a></p>

<p>The US Geological Survey said the shallow tremor hit approximately 82 kilometres to the east of the lightly populated Loyalty Islands at around 10:45 am (2245 GMT).&nbsp;</p>


Merkel's conservative party has been trying to reach a comprise with the FDP and Greens over immigration, climate change, European Union and taxes

China willing to help solve Rohingya crisis: Foreign minister Wang Yi China's foreign minister Wang Yi on a visit to Bangladesh met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali even as the Rohingya refugee issue continued to spiral out of control. Watch: PAAS workers in Gujarat clash with Congress over ticket distribution Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) workers in the late hours of Sunday clashed with the Gujarat Congress party cadres in Ahmedabad and Surat Merkel's fourth term in doubt as talks on forming coalition government fail Merkel's conservative party has been trying to reach a comprise with the FDP and Greens over immigration, climate change, European Union and taxes but hasn't reached a deal on any issue. Gujarat election: Congress releases first list of candidates The list includes Shaktisinh Gohil, Indranil RajyaGuru, Dilipsinh A Gohil, Vallab Dharadiya and Arjunbhai Modhvadiya. 7.0 magnitude quake off New Caledonia, triggers tsunami warning The US Geological Survey said the shallow tremor hit approximately 82 kilometres to the east of the lightly populated Loyalty Islands at around 10:45 am (2245 GMT).

WION morning news brief, November 20, 2017

<p>The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 77 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. The list was released by senior party leader Oscar Fernandes.</p>

<p>The list includes Shaktisinh Gohil, Indranil RajyaGuru, Dilipsinh A Gohil, Vallab Dharadiya, Arjunbhai Modhvadiya and many more.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This is our 1st Candidate list of 77 Candidates for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GujaratElection2017?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GujaratElection2017</a>.<br />
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Congratulations &amp; Best wishes to all the 77 Candidates. ???????? ??? ??, ??????? ???? ??! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NavsarjanGujarat?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NavsarjanGujarat</a> <a href="https://t.co/C8OCsbTavR">pic.twitter.com/C8OCsbTavR</a></p>
&mdash; Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) <a href="https://twitter.com/BharatSolankee/status/932295612686467073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is contesting from Mandvi constituency. Indranil Rajyaguru is pitted against Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from Rajkot.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Dilipsinh A Gohil will clash with BJP state president Jitu Vaghani from Bhavnagar West. Earlier in the day, Congress state Bharatsinh Solanki confirmed that a reservation policy has been worked out with the Patidars.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">BJP is nervous &amp; rattled by the surging popularity of <a href="https://twitter.com/INCGujarat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@INCGujarat</a> &amp; Response Rahulji&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NavsarjanYatra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NavsarjanYatra</a> got from People.<br />
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Thus, They are resorting to what they do the best, Spreading lies on Social Media but none of this will help as ppl have decided to boot out BJP from Gujarat! <a href="https://t.co/qeXAJMP62v">https://t.co/qeXAJMP62v</a></p>
&mdash; Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) <a href="https://twitter.com/BharatSolankee/status/932289484086960129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>In the first list, there are three Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) contestants __ Lalit Basoya (Dhoraji), Nilesh Kumbani (Kamrej) and Amit Thummar (Junagadh). Out of the 77 candidates, there are 11 ST candidates and 7 SC candidates.</p>

<p>The Congress earlier released a list of candidates on it&#39;s Twitter handle which was later retracted as the list was incorrect, Congress said.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, BJP circulated a list of Congress candidates on social media. Upon investigation by Congress IT cell, it was found the phone used for BJP&#39;s website was used to circulate the list, Gujarat Congress said.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">A Fake list of <a href="https://twitter.com/INCGujarat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@INCGujarat</a> Candidates is going around on Social Media with my signature. It is fake &amp; We have released no such list.<br />
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Authority to declare the candidates completely lies with Central Election Committee &amp; List of Candidates is always declared from Delhi by AICC.</p>
&mdash; Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) <a href="https://twitter.com/BharatSolankee/status/932286270906155008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&#39;&#39;BJP must answer people why did it resort to such gimmick and circulated the false list. It must apologize to the public,&#39;&#39; said Manish Doshi, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&#39;&#39;Letter pad of Congress and signatures of our President have been misused to circulate false list on social media,&#39;&#39; Doshi alleged.&nbsp;</p>

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(With inputs from agencies)</p>

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In the first list, there are three Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) contestants. Out of the 77 candidates, there are 11 ST candidates and 7 SC candidates.

The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 77 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. The list was released by senior party leader Oscar Fernandes. The list includes Shaktisinh Gohil, Indranil RajyaGuru, Dilipsinh A Gohil, Vallab Dharadiya, Arjunbhai Modhvadiya and many more. This is our 1st Candidate list of 77 Candidates for #GujaratElection2017. Congratulations & Best wishes to all the 77 Candidates. ???????? ??? ??, ??????? ???? ??! #NavsarjanGujarat pic.twitter.com/C8OCsbTavR — Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) November 19, 2017 × Senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is contesting from Mandvi constituency. Indranil Rajyaguru is pitted against Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from Rajkot. Dilipsinh A Gohil will clash with BJP state president Jitu Vaghani from Bhavnagar West. Earlier in the day, Congress state Bharatsinh Solanki confirmed that a reservation policy has been worked out with the Patidars. BJP is nervous & rattled by the surging popularity of @INCGujarat & Response Rahulji's #NavsarjanYatra got from People. Thus, They are resorting to what they do the best, Spreading lies on Social Media but none of this will help as ppl have decided to boot out BJP from Gujarat! https://t.co/qeXAJMP62v — Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) November 19, 2017 × In the first list, there are three Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) contestants __ Lalit Basoya (Dhoraji), Nilesh Kumbani (Kamrej) and Amit Thummar (Junagadh). Out of the 77 candidates, there are 11 ST candidates and 7 SC candidates. The Congress earlier released a list of candidates on it's Twitter handle which was later retracted as the list was incorrect, Congress said. Meanwhile, BJP circulated a list of Congress candidates on social media. Upon investigation by Congress IT cell, it was found the phone used for BJP's website was used to circulate the list, Gujarat Congress said. A Fake list of @INCGujarat Candidates is going around on Social Media with my signature. It is fake & We have released no such list. Authority to declare the candidates completely lies with Central Election Committee & List of Candidates is always declared from Delhi by AICC. — Bharat Solanki (@BharatSolankee) November 19, 2017 × ''BJP must answer people why did it resort to such gimmick and circulated the false list. It must apologize to the public,'' said Manish Doshi, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson. ''Letter pad of Congress and signatures of our President have been misused to circulate false list on social media,'' Doshi alleged. (With inputs from agencies)

Gujarat election: Congress releases first list of candidates

<p>Is Gujarat ready to deliver the sixth term for Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 18, 2017? The answer is not as simple as the question. Since 1962, Congress and BJP have each been successful six and five times respectively in winning five consecutive terms. However, Madhav Singh Solanki of Congress and Narendra Modi of BJP were the only Chief Ministers to win three consecutive terms for their parties.</p>

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<p>It is common sense that each electoral victory is based on a combination of several factors for which positive determinants outweigh the negative ones. Whatever may, in the 2017 Gujarat election, one may notice that the competitiveness of Congress and BJP is more balanced than expected at least with regard to the popular perception.</p>

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<h5>In the Saurashtra and Kutch region as the present political conjuncture in this region is favourable to Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s Congress.</h5>
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<p>While the planets may seem aligned for BJP, the bad news is the party running for the sixth consecutive term. Therefore, it appears that there is a risk of fatigue on the part of the electorates in Gujarat. This trend is more visible in the Saurashtra and Kutch region as the present political conjuncture in this region is favourable to Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s Congress.</p>

<p>We must remember that &ldquo;all politics is local&rdquo; and thus each region has their own political dynamics. It is equally true about Saurashtra and Kutch&nbsp;region. In total, there are 54 assembly seats in this region, the highest number comparing other regions. In particular, these assembly seats are divided as per the following: 6 in Kutch, 5 in Surendranagar, 11 in Rajkot, 7 in Jamnagar, 2 in Porbandar, 9 in Junagarh, 5 in Amreli, and 9 in Bhavnagar.</p>

<p>Saurashtra and Kutch&#39;s region is no longer appearing ideologically stable with BJP and showing trends to swing in favour of Congress. Though BJP did well in this region in 2012 Assembly elections despite the probable challenge from Keshubhai Patel&rsquo;s Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP). The BJP won 34 of the 54 seats. But the party&rsquo;s vote share in the region was declined from 48 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent in 2012.</p>

<p>One of the reasons was the GPP&rsquo;s performance that secured almost 8 per cent of the votes in this region and ended up winning two seats. The Congress won 16 seats that is a gain of two seats from 2007. Interestingly, BJP with 34 seats got 45 per cent of votes while Congress with only 16 seats got 37 per cent of votes.</p>

<p>In the past and even now, there has been a deep schism between the mainland Gujarat and Saurashtra. In 1957, Jivraj Mehta from Saurashtra as Chief Minister nominated most of the minsters from Saurashtra region and refused to take orders from the mainland dominated Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.</p>

<p>The replacement of Keshubhai Patel from Saurashtra by Narendra Modi in 2001 was seen in the similar light. Similarly, in popular imaginations, mainland Gujarat is treated modern, progressive while Saurashtra as backward and regressive.</p>

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<h5>The changing social dynamics in this region is equally worrisome for BJP.</h5>
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<p>In 2017, we must underline that Congress is becoming stronger in this region. As for the voters Congress resembles more as BJP in its methods and approach to make a dent in BJP&rsquo;s support base like visiting temples, attending local festivals, sidelining minorities, playing religious card like using Lord Shiva, exploiting the economic pessimism among farmers, workers, traders, industrialists due to GST, demonetisation, poor employment records and other governance failures at local level.</p>

<p>At the same time, the changing social dynamics in this region is equally worrisome for BJP. It can be seen in the rising anxiety amongst the close circle of BJP due to the rising graph of the Congress. If election will held today, as reflected in the November 2017 survey of Lokniti-CSDS data, both Congress and BJP will secure 42 per cent of votes. However, in the August 2017 Survey, BJP was supposedly enjoying 65 per cent of vote shares while Congress only 26 per cent. It is certainly a huge decline of BJP on perception index.</p>

<p>How do we explain such a decline in popular perception? The significant development is the frustration of Patidars and Karadia Rajputs with BJP. Karadia Rajputs having a dominant presence in 25 Assembly constituencies of this region and traditionally voted for BJP are mobilising against the party.</p>

<p>We must note that Karadia Rajputs are OBCs and the OBC leader Alpesh Thakor is gaining prominence among them. Interestingly, their rivalries with Patidars are also getting diluted due to their anti-BJP convergence. What could not be gained socially is achieved politically? It is also to be highlighted that Rajputs in Saurashtra includes lower castes such as Kathis, Kolis and Mers and collectively referred as Kshatriyas.</p>

<p>For Patidars, Saurashtra and Kutch&nbsp;is a stronghold. They are in sizable presence in more than 30 Assembly seats and are in a position to tip the scale of victory in these constituencies. The Patidar leader, Hardik Patel still enjoys the confidence of his community despite the attempt to demean his character through the sudden release of CDs. It must be noted that it is not for the first time Patidars are giving a challenge to BJP. In 2012, Keshubhai Patel also tried to mobilise Patidar voters but failed.</p>

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<h5>The certain swing of voters and the habit of &lsquo;panic vote&rsquo; in the last minute may still be able to change the fate of the BJP in Saurashtra as it happened in 2012.</h5>
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<p>But unlike the past, first, Patidar&rsquo;s anger was consolidated with an organised movement by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti on the pretext of &lsquo;first reservation then vote&rsquo;. Second, the overall pessimism of the electorate was relatively modest in 2012, and thus BJP did well due to excellent management of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Third, for the first time, Kadvas, Leuvas and other sub-castes of Patels like Chaudharys and Anjanas came together to emerge as the united force due to reservation movement.</p>

<p>However, BJP may get the support from Koli community that is more than 20 per cent and has a sizable presence in 18 Assembly seats in Saurashtra. More specifically, like always, the certain swing of voters and the habit of &lsquo;panic vote&rsquo; in the last minute may still be able to change the fate of the BJP in Saurashtra as it happened in 2012.</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer</em>: <em>The author writes here in a personal capacity)</em></p>


The changing social dynamics in Saurashtra and Kutch is worrisome for BJP and also Congress is becoming stronger in this region

Is Gujarat ready to deliver the sixth term for Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 18, 2017? The answer is not as simple as the question. Since 1962, Congress and BJP have each been successful six and five times respectively in winning five consecutive terms. However, Madhav Singh Solanki of Congress and Narendra Modi of BJP were the only Chief Ministers to win three consecutive terms for their parties. It is common sense that each electoral victory is based on a combination of several factors for which positive determinants outweigh the negative ones. Whatever may, in the 2017 Gujarat election, one may notice that the competitiveness of Congress and BJP is more balanced than expected at least with regard to the popular perception. In the Saurashtra and Kutch region as the present political conjuncture in this region is favourable to Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. × While the planets may seem aligned for BJP, the bad news is the party running for the sixth consecutive term. Therefore, it appears that there is a risk of fatigue on the part of the electorates in Gujarat. This trend is more visible in the Saurashtra and Kutch region as the present political conjuncture in this region is favourable to Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. We must remember that “all politics is local” and thus each region has their own political dynamics. It is equally true about Saurashtra and Kutch region. In total, there are 54 assembly seats in this region, the highest number comparing other regions. In particular, these assembly seats are divided as per the following: 6 in Kutch, 5 in Surendranagar, 11 in Rajkot, 7 in Jamnagar, 2 in Porbandar, 9 in Junagarh, 5 in Amreli, and 9 in Bhavnagar. Saurashtra and Kutch's region is no longer appearing ideologically stable with BJP and showing trends to swing in favour of Congress. Though BJP did well in this region in 2012 Assembly elections despite the probable challenge from Keshubhai Patel’s Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP). The BJP won 34 of the 54 seats. But the party’s vote share in the region was declined from 48 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent in 2012. One of the reasons was the GPP’s performance that secured almost 8 per cent of the votes in this region and ended up winning two seats. The Congress won 16 seats that is a gain of two seats from 2007. Interestingly, BJP with 34 seats got 45 per cent of votes while Congress with only 16 seats got 37 per cent of votes. In the past and even now, there has been a deep schism between the mainland Gujarat and Saurashtra. In 1957, Jivraj Mehta from Saurashtra as Chief Minister nominated most of the minsters from Saurashtra region and refused to take orders from the mainland dominated Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee. The replacement of Keshubhai Patel from Saurashtra by Narendra Modi in 2001 was seen in the similar light. Similarly, in popular imaginations, mainland Gujarat is treated modern, progressive while Saurashtra as backward and regressive. The changing social dynamics in this region is equally worrisome for BJP. × In 2017, we must underline that Congress is becoming stronger in this region. As for the voters Congress resembles more as BJP in its methods and approach to make a dent in BJP’s support base like visiting temples, attending local festivals, sidelining minorities, playing religious card like using Lord Shiva, exploiting the economic pessimism among farmers, workers, traders, industrialists due to GST, demonetisation, poor employment records and other governance failures at local level. At the same time, the changing social dynamics in this region is equally worrisome for BJP. It can be seen in the rising anxiety amongst the close circle of BJP due to the rising graph of the Congress. If election will held today, as reflected in the November 2017 survey of Lokniti-CSDS data, both Congress and BJP will secure 42 per cent of votes. However, in the August 2017 Survey, BJP was supposedly enjoying 65 per cent of vote shares while Congress only 26 per cent. It is certainly a huge decline of BJP on perception index. How do we explain such a decline in popular perception? The significant development is the frustration of Patidars and Karadia Rajputs with BJP. Karadia Rajputs having a dominant presence in 25 Assembly constituencies of this region and traditionally voted for BJP are mobilising against the party. We must note that Karadia Rajputs are OBCs and the OBC leader Alpesh Thakor is gaining prominence among them. Interestingly, their rivalries with Patidars are also getting diluted due to their anti-BJP convergence. What could not be gained socially is achieved politically? It is also to be highlighted that Rajputs in Saurashtra includes lower castes such as Kathis, Kolis and Mers and collectively referred as Kshatriyas. For Patidars, Saurashtra and Kutch is a stronghold. They are in sizable presence in more than 30 Assembly seats and are in a position to tip the scale of victory in these constituencies. The Patidar leader, Hardik Patel still enjoys the confidence of his community despite the attempt to demean his character through the sudden release of CDs. It must be noted that it is not for the first time Patidars are giving a challenge to BJP. In 2012, Keshubhai Patel also tried to mobilise Patidar voters but failed. The certain swing of voters and the habit of ‘panic vote’ in the last minute may still be able to change the fate of the BJP in Saurashtra as it happened in 2012. × But unlike the past, first, Patidar’s anger was consolidated with an organised movement by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti on the pretext of ‘first reservation then vote’. Second, the overall pessimism of the electorate was relatively modest in 2012, and thus BJP did well due to excellent management of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Third, for the first time, Kadvas, Leuvas and other sub-castes of Patels like Chaudharys and Anjanas came together to emerge as the united force due to reservation movement. However, BJP may get the support from Koli community that is more than 20 per cent and has a sizable presence in 18 Assembly seats in Saurashtra. More specifically, like always, the certain swing of voters and the habit of ‘panic vote’ in the last minute may still be able to change the fate of the BJP in Saurashtra as it happened in 2012. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity)

Changing dynamics in Saurashtra might hurt BJP in Gujarat

<p>The politics of caste has always been there in Gujarat like it has existed elsewhere in the country. But never before in the last two decades has it assumed a pole position in the manner that it has in the ongoing Assembly election campaign. What makes the development more interesting is that it is neither of the two major competitors &mdash; the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party &mdash; which is the driver.</p>

<p>The thrust is being engineered by three caste leaders who are upstarts and hope to, in the process, gain a pan-State relevance. Since they have decided to oppose the BJP, the Congress has latched on to them. And, the issue is not only one of caste calculations but of caste reservations.</p>

<p>Having jumped on to the caste bandwagon, the Congress cannot now turn back. Therefore, it is busy crafting the KHAM 2.0 version in the hope that this will shut down the BJP&rsquo;s page in the State. It was in the 1980s that senior Congress leader and four-time Chief Minister Madhav Singh Solanki along with Congressman Jinabhai Darji formulated the Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim (KHAM) grouping. It served his party well.</p>

<p>The Congress won the Assembly election in 1981, bagging 156 seats &mdash; an achievement which the BJP has been straining to match. The winning formula worked for several years before the BJP took over Gujarat and reduced the KHAM phenomenon to ashes. The combination eventually lost out because it alienated the others, especially the upper castes and the influential Patidar community whom the BJP courted with success. The 2014 Lok Sabha election decimated whatever had remained of this coalition, with the BJP winning all the 26 seats on offer in the State. The new revived KHAM version includes the Patidars.</p>

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<h5>Whether it was during the 2002 communal violence or thereafter, the Patidars backed the BJP and the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.</h5>
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<p>On the face of it, KHAM-plus-Patidar is a formidable formulation. The Patidar community represents a little over 12 per cent of the State&rsquo;s population; the Muslims comprise roughly 10 per cent, and the Adivasi community is around 15 per cent (the Scheduled Castes are eight per cent or so). The Kshatriyas in Gujarat are a mixed lot &mdash; the Koli people consider themselves as Kshatriyas, and so do a few others. But the success of KHAM 2.0 depends more on paper calculations. Will the chemistry complement the mathematics?</p>

<p>It stands to reason that the OBCs who are present beneficiaries of the reservation policy will not be amused by the demands of aspiring entrants. This could be more pronounced in the Patidar case, given that the Patidars are seen to have gained considerably over the decades, socially, educationally and economically, and are considered unworthy of the &lsquo;positive discrimination&rsquo; they now demand.</p>

<p>Additionally, if the Patidars become part of the Congress&rsquo;s KHAM 2.0, it would need a resolution of the long-standing conflict between the Patidar community and the rest, especially the main religious minority &mdash; the Muslims. Whether it was during the 2002 communal violence or thereafter, the Patidars backed the BJP and the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.</p>

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<h5>Dissatisfaction among large sections of the traditional voters of the BJP need not automatically lead to their casting votes against the party.</h5>
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<p>It is one thing for a bunch of Patidar leaders, such as Hardik Patel and the Congress to align with each other. The real test lies in the alliance&rsquo;s acceptance among the people at the lower levels. Uttar Pradesh provides a good example. Congress&rsquo;s Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party&rsquo;s Akhilesh Yadav formed a coalition, but the understanding did not strike a chord at the local levels of the leadership. Neither was it seen as credible among the caste voters of both the groups. The Congress-SP combine faced a rout.</p>

<p>Besides, dissatisfaction among large sections of the traditional voters of the BJP need not automatically lead to their casting votes against the party. For instance, major opinion polls conducted so far in the State have noted considerable levels of unhappiness with the Government on a host of issues, including the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and the demonetisation decision. And yet, the projected anger does not get reflected in the overall numbers the surveys projected &mdash; with the BJP doing nearly as well as it did in 2012.</p>

<p>However, none of the above arguments can be reason enough to dismiss the challenge the BJP faces in the wake the new caste coalition. The BJP cannot wish away the thought of the Congress reviving the KHAM coalition, strengthened with the addition of a good chunk of the OBCs and the Patidars. Nor can it shut its eyes to the traction that the trio of Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor (OBC leader) and Jignesh Mevani (Scheduled Castes leader) has gained and their pronounced tilt in the Congress&rsquo;s favour.</p>

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<h5>Fobbing off the Hardik Patel challenge could be a different cup of tea for BJP this time, given that the Patel charge is fortified with the OBC factor and possible anti-incumbency.</h5>
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<p>Some commentators may have gone overboard in comparing their combined assault against the BJP to the India Against Corruption movement Anna Hazare had launched four years ago. But it is a fact that the three have managed to sway public opinion in their favour at least in their strongholds. Mevani seeks to make a mark in Ahmedabad and nearabout; Patel in and around Bhavnagar; and Thakor at Mehsana and the neighbourhood.</p>

<p>Saurashtra and north Gujarat are the key regions that will determine the larger Patel drift as they are dominated by the Patidar community. Together they account for more than 100 seats. In 2012, the BJP had easily overcome a stiff challenge from Keshubhai Patel who had rebelled against the party. Fobbing off the Hardik Patel challenge could be a different cup of tea for the party this time, given that the Patel charge is fortified with the OBC factor and possible anti-incumbency.</p>

<p>And yet, it would be pertinent to note the word of caution which the original architect of KHAM, Solanki, expressed two years ago. He said the Patidar agitation would eventually fizzle out &ldquo;because truth has no role in it&rdquo;. While he did not name Hardik Patel or his outfit, the inference was clear as daylight.</p>

<p>This is what the BJP hopes in, more so because it believes that the Congress is in no position to offer a credible and workable reservation formula. It may be that Solanki was out of touch with the new realities when he made that remark and that his forward caste bias was on display. But the over-zealous and newly-emerged caste leaders cannot be oblivious to the fact that glories acquired overnight can dissipate just as quickly.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


The real test of Hardik Patel's alliance with the Congress party lies in the alliance?s acceptance among the people at the lower levels.

The politics of caste has always been there in Gujarat like it has existed elsewhere in the country. But never before in the last two decades has it assumed a pole position in the manner that it has in the ongoing Assembly election campaign. What makes the development more interesting is that it is neither of the two major competitors — the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party — which is the driver. The thrust is being engineered by three caste leaders who are upstarts and hope to, in the process, gain a pan-State relevance. Since they have decided to oppose the BJP, the Congress has latched on to them. And, the issue is not only one of caste calculations but of caste reservations. Having jumped on to the caste bandwagon, the Congress cannot now turn back. Therefore, it is busy crafting the KHAM 2.0 version in the hope that this will shut down the BJP’s page in the State. It was in the 1980s that senior Congress leader and four-time Chief Minister Madhav Singh Solanki along with Congressman Jinabhai Darji formulated the Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim (KHAM) grouping. It served his party well. The Congress won the Assembly election in 1981, bagging 156 seats — an achievement which the BJP has been straining to match. The winning formula worked for several years before the BJP took over Gujarat and reduced the KHAM phenomenon to ashes. The combination eventually lost out because it alienated the others, especially the upper castes and the influential Patidar community whom the BJP courted with success. The 2014 Lok Sabha election decimated whatever had remained of this coalition, with the BJP winning all the 26 seats on offer in the State. The new revived KHAM version includes the Patidars. Whether it was during the 2002 communal violence or thereafter, the Patidars backed the BJP and the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. × On the face of it, KHAM-plus-Patidar is a formidable formulation. The Patidar community represents a little over 12 per cent of the State’s population; the Muslims comprise roughly 10 per cent, and the Adivasi community is around 15 per cent (the Scheduled Castes are eight per cent or so). The Kshatriyas in Gujarat are a mixed lot — the Koli people consider themselves as Kshatriyas, and so do a few others. But the success of KHAM 2.0 depends more on paper calculations. Will the chemistry complement the mathematics? It stands to reason that the OBCs who are present beneficiaries of the reservation policy will not be amused by the demands of aspiring entrants. This could be more pronounced in the Patidar case, given that the Patidars are seen to have gained considerably over the decades, socially, educationally and economically, and are considered unworthy of the ‘positive discrimination’ they now demand. Additionally, if the Patidars become part of the Congress’s KHAM 2.0, it would need a resolution of the long-standing conflict between the Patidar community and the rest, especially the main religious minority — the Muslims. Whether it was during the 2002 communal violence or thereafter, the Patidars backed the BJP and the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Dissatisfaction among large sections of the traditional voters of the BJP need not automatically lead to their casting votes against the party. × It is one thing for a bunch of Patidar leaders, such as Hardik Patel and the Congress to align with each other. The real test lies in the alliance’s acceptance among the people at the lower levels. Uttar Pradesh provides a good example. Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav formed a coalition, but the understanding did not strike a chord at the local levels of the leadership. Neither was it seen as credible among the caste voters of both the groups. The Congress-SP combine faced a rout. Besides, dissatisfaction among large sections of the traditional voters of the BJP need not automatically lead to their casting votes against the party. For instance, major opinion polls conducted so far in the State have noted considerable levels of unhappiness with the Government on a host of issues, including the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and the demonetisation decision. And yet, the projected anger does not get reflected in the overall numbers the surveys projected — with the BJP doing nearly as well as it did in 2012. However, none of the above arguments can be reason enough to dismiss the challenge the BJP faces in the wake the new caste coalition. The BJP cannot wish away the thought of the Congress reviving the KHAM coalition, strengthened with the addition of a good chunk of the OBCs and the Patidars. Nor can it shut its eyes to the traction that the trio of Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor (OBC leader) and Jignesh Mevani (Scheduled Castes leader) has gained and their pronounced tilt in the Congress’s favour. Fobbing off the Hardik Patel challenge could be a different cup of tea for BJP this time, given that the Patel charge is fortified with the OBC factor and possible anti-incumbency. × Some commentators may have gone overboard in comparing their combined assault against the BJP to the India Against Corruption movement Anna Hazare had launched four years ago. But it is a fact that the three have managed to sway public opinion in their favour at least in their strongholds. Mevani seeks to make a mark in Ahmedabad and nearabout; Patel in and around Bhavnagar; and Thakor at Mehsana and the neighbourhood. Saurashtra and north Gujarat are the key regions that will determine the larger Patel drift as they are dominated by the Patidar community. Together they account for more than 100 seats. In 2012, the BJP had easily overcome a stiff challenge from Keshubhai Patel who had rebelled against the party. Fobbing off the Hardik Patel challenge could be a different cup of tea for the party this time, given that the Patel charge is fortified with the OBC factor and possible anti-incumbency. And yet, it would be pertinent to note the word of caution which the original architect of KHAM, Solanki, expressed two years ago. He said the Patidar agitation would eventually fizzle out “because truth has no role in it”. While he did not name Hardik Patel or his outfit, the inference was clear as daylight. This is what the BJP hopes in, more so because it believes that the Congress is in no position to offer a credible and workable reservation formula. It may be that Solanki was out of touch with the new realities when he made that remark and that his forward caste bias was on display. But the over-zealous and newly-emerged caste leaders cannot be oblivious to the fact that glories acquired overnight can dissipate just as quickly.

Gujarat election: Hardik Patel's glory may fizzle out

<p>For many of us who grew up in Bengal and hadn&rsquo;t visited Gujarat, Ahmedabad surprisingly was never unknown territory. It figured hazily in our imaginations through stories, memories and anecdotal trivia garnered from friends and family who&rsquo;d gone to study or work there. It was also the city that featured in Tagore&rsquo;s reminiscences as the place that inspired him to write his first story, &ldquo;Kshudito Pashan&rdquo; or the &ldquo;Hungry Stones&rdquo;.</p>

<p>The historian Shailesh Parekh and author of &ldquo;Tagore in Ahmedabad&rdquo; writes, that Tagore&rsquo;s stay with his brother the ICS, Satyendranath Tagore at Shah Jahan&rsquo;s palace on the banks of the Sabarmati, brought him a deep appreciation of the city&rsquo;s history and a fondness for it that would grow stronger over the years through his friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.</p>

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<h5>We drew inspiration from an older generation who brought us stories of work and life in Ahmedabad of the 1960s when many a Bengali scientist and engineer joined the ISRO, the PRL or ONGC.</h5>
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<p>As anxious young undergraduates in the 1980s,&nbsp;however, we began to look at the city through a different lens. It was a new career destination. We marvelled at friends who had cracked the CAT and entered the hallowed portals of the IIM or mastered the equally daunting entrance test to the National Institute of Design to become part of an elite cultural fraternity. We drew inspiration from an older generation who brought us stories of work and life in Ahmedabad of the 1960s when many a Bengali scientist and engineer joined the ISRO, the PRL or ONGC.</p>

<p>We learnt&nbsp; of Ahmedabad as a new haven for job seekers who sought employment in the vast network of petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies that came to dominate Gujarat&rsquo;s industrial landscape following the closure of the city&rsquo;s textile mills in the 1970s.</p>

<p>This largely positive image of a city offering exciting new job opportunities and a relatively peaceful life came to be radically unsettled by the events of February 2002. The images of carnage and mayhem beamed live on national television lingered in our minds for many months after. So when marriage and a job beckoned me to Ahmedabad in 2004, I was deeply apprehensive.</p>

<p>But when I was greeted at the airport,&nbsp;by our young and mirthful Muslim driver, I felt strangely reassured. Kaiyum Khan Pathan claimed descent from an official serving the erstwhile Pashtun Nawabs of Balasinor a small princely state in central Gujarat. After a spate of misfortunes from which the family never recovered, his grandfather came to Ahmedabad as a mill-hand in the 1940s. Following the shutdowns of the 1970s, he took driving lessons and found employment in the Gujarat Secretariat in the capital Gandhinagar.</p>

<p>When I asked Kaiyum about the events of 2002, he seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but collected himself soon after, and said rather ruefully that &lsquo;such things have happened before&rsquo; and memories of the first riot he&rsquo;d witnessed went back to his childhood in the late 1960s. He said he was relieved that his family had moved out of the grimy mills districts of the Asarva-Chamanpur areas on the eastern peripheries of the old city and moved to Gandhinagar where he felt &lsquo;safe&rsquo;.</p>

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<h5>Ahmedabad&rsquo;s tryst with communal polarisation and civil unrest has a long and bitter history.</h5>
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<p>Although it&rsquo;s seldom recalled now, Ahmedabad&rsquo;s tryst with communal polarisation and civil unrest has a long and bitter history. Two of the city&rsquo;s most respected chroniclers, Achyut Yagnik and Shuchitra Seth tell us that much of the contemporary history of communal strife was triggered by the radical shifts in the city&rsquo;s political economy. They locate these shifts in the crisis of the textile industry and large-scale unemployment thereafter.</p>

<p>These developments in the city&rsquo;s economy deepened the already existing caste and community divides and sharpened the growing anti-Muslim resentment following the Indo-Pak war of 1965, especially when the Chief Minister Balwant Rai Mehta was killed when Pakistan shot down a plane carrying him.</p>

<p>Against the backdrop of the anti-reservation caste politics and the Hindutva mobilisation thereafter, communal polarisation crystallised in the 1990s around a new urban development politics that pitted real estate developers and the government against Dalit and Muslim slum dwellers and squatters. These simmering tensions spilled forth with extreme violence and brutality in the small town of Godhra in February 2002.</p>

<p>Yet, when I began to live in Ahmedabad since 2004, the embers of violence had died down and the city sought to reinvent itself all over again. It had entered a frenetic phase of real estate development through new housing societies, shopping malls, flyovers, underpasses, rapid transport networks, showpiece temples, gourmet restaurant and boutique cafes. Ahmedabad it seemed was in a tearing hurry to move on. The Vibrant Gujarat summits added fervour to this renewed spate of urban optimism.</p>

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<h5>The exquisitely carved wooden facades, doors and latticed windows that adorn every Hindu, Jain and Muslim dwelling, spoke of a city fraught with conflict but blessed with grace.</h5>
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<p>Even if the razzle-dazzle of the new city added more fun to my existence, I have to confess that I found greater comfort in the quieter stretches of the city closer to the western banks of the Sabarmati. One of my favourite places being the Sabarmati Ashram set up by Gandhi in 1916.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, this place that was once the site of a novel political and social experiment no longer inspires the younger Ahmedabadis. It remains museumised as a relic of the city&rsquo;s past that has little relevance today. The old walled city on the eastern bank of the river suffers a similar fate.</p>

<p>When on occasion I&rsquo;ve crossed the bridge and entered the old city through the imposing arches of the Teen Darwaza, I&rsquo;ve felt drawn into a different world. Behind the bustle, congestion and chaos of the market square adjoining the gate, fleeting visions of an older and much grander city seemed to greet me at every turn. This is the city that was birthed by Sultan Ahmad Shah in 1411 and consecrated by many a Sufi saint. Its numinous domes, arches and minarets, its spires and shikharas, its densely packed gated neighbourhoods or pols with their imposing havelis set amid warrens of narrow lanes, and the exquisitely carved wooden facades, doors and latticed windows that adorn every Hindu, Jain and Muslim dwelling, spoke of a city fraught with conflict but blessed with grace.</p>

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<h5>The glitzy urban sprawl on the western bank of the river continues to dominate the larger national imagination, it is this old walled city that has earned Ahmedabad its World Heritage tag.&nbsp;</h5>
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<p>The architectural and aesthetic marvels of Ahmad Shah&rsquo;s city have now been extensively photographed, documented and presented as markers of a syncretic urban culture, and a new tourist attraction. Although the glitzy urban sprawl on the western bank of the river continues to dominate the larger national imagination, it is this old walled city that has earned Ahmedabad its World Heritage tag.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Yet while heritage activists have celebrated and showcased the gentler symbols of the city&rsquo;s syncretic inheritance, its more sombre chroniclers have pointed to the grimmer realities of its modern self. Yagnik and Seth, for instance, conclude, that Ahmedabad is an irredeemably divided city &ndash; the city of Sultans and Sufis, the city of the Nagarsheths ( prosperous mill owners turned city patrons) and the ghostly city of abandoned mill districts, slums and ghettos. The relations between the three remain tense and ambivalent.&nbsp;Behind the energy and optimism that seemingly pervades Ahmedabad&rsquo;s urban consciousness there always lurks the niggling fear of yet another conflagration.</p>

<p>For me, however, the city is still working itself into my life at a quiet and languid pace. I see its many divides, but I see its connections too. To me, the iconic &ldquo;tree of life&rdquo; motif on the jaali flanking the central aisle of the Siddi Saiyyid Mosque remains a poignant reminder of the benign energies that have healed the wounds of hate and brought hopes of reconciliation into the troubled life of this historic city.</p>


Ahmedabad city revived itself from 2002's brutality and entered into a phase of infrastructure and real estate development

For many of us who grew up in Bengal and hadn’t visited Gujarat, Ahmedabad surprisingly was never unknown territory. It figured hazily in our imaginations through stories, memories and anecdotal trivia garnered from friends and family who’d gone to study or work there. It was also the city that featured in Tagore’s reminiscences as the place that inspired him to write his first story, “Kshudito Pashan” or the “Hungry Stones”. The historian Shailesh Parekh and author of “Tagore in Ahmedabad” writes, that Tagore’s stay with his brother the ICS, Satyendranath Tagore at Shah Jahan’s palace on the banks of the Sabarmati, brought him a deep appreciation of the city’s history and a fondness for it that would grow stronger over the years through his friendship with Mahatma Gandhi. We drew inspiration from an older generation who brought us stories of work and life in Ahmedabad of the 1960s when many a Bengali scientist and engineer joined the ISRO, the PRL or ONGC. × As anxious young undergraduates in the 1980s, however, we began to look at the city through a different lens. It was a new career destination. We marvelled at friends who had cracked the CAT and entered the hallowed portals of the IIM or mastered the equally daunting entrance test to the National Institute of Design to become part of an elite cultural fraternity. We drew inspiration from an older generation who brought us stories of work and life in Ahmedabad of the 1960s when many a Bengali scientist and engineer joined the ISRO, the PRL or ONGC. We learnt of Ahmedabad as a new haven for job seekers who sought employment in the vast network of petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies that came to dominate Gujarat’s industrial landscape following the closure of the city’s textile mills in the 1970s. This largely positive image of a city offering exciting new job opportunities and a relatively peaceful life came to be radically unsettled by the events of February 2002. The images of carnage and mayhem beamed live on national television lingered in our minds for many months after. So when marriage and a job beckoned me to Ahmedabad in 2004, I was deeply apprehensive. But when I was greeted at the airport, by our young and mirthful Muslim driver, I felt strangely reassured. Kaiyum Khan Pathan claimed descent from an official serving the erstwhile Pashtun Nawabs of Balasinor a small princely state in central Gujarat. After a spate of misfortunes from which the family never recovered, his grandfather came to Ahmedabad as a mill-hand in the 1940s. Following the shutdowns of the 1970s, he took driving lessons and found employment in the Gujarat Secretariat in the capital Gandhinagar. When I asked Kaiyum about the events of 2002, he seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but collected himself soon after, and said rather ruefully that ‘such things have happened before’ and memories of the first riot he’d witnessed went back to his childhood in the late 1960s. He said he was relieved that his family had moved out of the grimy mills districts of the Asarva-Chamanpur areas on the eastern peripheries of the old city and moved to Gandhinagar where he felt ‘safe’. Ahmedabad’s tryst with communal polarisation and civil unrest has a long and bitter history. × Although it’s seldom recalled now, Ahmedabad’s tryst with communal polarisation and civil unrest has a long and bitter history. Two of the city’s most respected chroniclers, Achyut Yagnik and Shuchitra Seth tell us that much of the contemporary history of communal strife was triggered by the radical shifts in the city’s political economy. They locate these shifts in the crisis of the textile industry and large-scale unemployment thereafter. These developments in the city’s economy deepened the already existing caste and community divides and sharpened the growing anti-Muslim resentment following the Indo-Pak war of 1965, especially when the Chief Minister Balwant Rai Mehta was killed when Pakistan shot down a plane carrying him. Against the backdrop of the anti-reservation caste politics and the Hindutva mobilisation thereafter, communal polarisation crystallised in the 1990s around a new urban development politics that pitted real estate developers and the government against Dalit and Muslim slum dwellers and squatters. These simmering tensions spilled forth with extreme violence and brutality in the small town of Godhra in February 2002. Yet, when I began to live in Ahmedabad since 2004, the embers of violence had died down and the city sought to reinvent itself all over again. It had entered a frenetic phase of real estate development through new housing societies, shopping malls, flyovers, underpasses, rapid transport networks, showpiece temples, gourmet restaurant and boutique cafes. Ahmedabad it seemed was in a tearing hurry to move on. The Vibrant Gujarat summits added fervour to this renewed spate of urban optimism. The exquisitely carved wooden facades, doors and latticed windows that adorn every Hindu, Jain and Muslim dwelling, spoke of a city fraught with conflict but blessed with grace. × Even if the razzle-dazzle of the new city added more fun to my existence, I have to confess that I found greater comfort in the quieter stretches of the city closer to the western banks of the Sabarmati. One of my favourite places being the Sabarmati Ashram set up by Gandhi in 1916. Unfortunately, this place that was once the site of a novel political and social experiment no longer inspires the younger Ahmedabadis. It remains museumised as a relic of the city’s past that has little relevance today. The old walled city on the eastern bank of the river suffers a similar fate. When on occasion I’ve crossed the bridge and entered the old city through the imposing arches of the Teen Darwaza, I’ve felt drawn into a different world. Behind the bustle, congestion and chaos of the market square adjoining the gate, fleeting visions of an older and much grander city seemed to greet me at every turn. This is the city that was birthed by Sultan Ahmad Shah in 1411 and consecrated by many a Sufi saint. Its numinous domes, arches and minarets, its spires and shikharas, its densely packed gated neighbourhoods or pols with their imposing havelis set amid warrens of narrow lanes, and the exquisitely carved wooden facades, doors and latticed windows that adorn every Hindu, Jain and Muslim dwelling, spoke of a city fraught with conflict but blessed with grace. The glitzy urban sprawl on the western bank of the river continues to dominate the larger national imagination, it is this old walled city that has earned Ahmedabad its World Heritage tag. × The architectural and aesthetic marvels of Ahmad Shah’s city have now been extensively photographed, documented and presented as markers of a syncretic urban culture, and a new tourist attraction. Although the glitzy urban sprawl on the western bank of the river continues to dominate the larger national imagination, it is this old walled city that has earned Ahmedabad its World Heritage tag. Yet while heritage activists have celebrated and showcased the gentler symbols of the city’s syncretic inheritance, its more sombre chroniclers have pointed to the grimmer realities of its modern self. Yagnik and Seth, for instance, conclude, that Ahmedabad is an irredeemably divided city – the city of Sultans and Sufis, the city of the Nagarsheths ( prosperous mill owners turned city patrons) and the ghostly city of abandoned mill districts, slums and ghettos. The relations between the three remain tense and ambivalent. Behind the energy and optimism that seemingly pervades Ahmedabad’s urban consciousness there always lurks the niggling fear of yet another conflagration. For me, however, the city is still working itself into my life at a quiet and languid pace. I see its many divides, but I see its connections too. To me, the iconic “tree of life” motif on the jaali flanking the central aisle of the Siddi Saiyyid Mosque remains a poignant reminder of the benign energies that have healed the wounds of hate and brought hopes of reconciliation into the troubled life of this historic city.

Ahmedabad: A conflicted yet a graceful city

<p>Like many others, Muslims of Gujarat are disillusioned with politics, politicians and political parties who claim to represent them. It is because of the continual shortfall between what politicians promise them and what they deliver. The most serious concern of the Muslims is the rising communalisation of the political atmosphere of Gujarat and their consequent insecurities, elections after elections.</p>

<p><strong>Demographic Value and Political Representation of Muslims:</strong></p>

<p>As per the 2011 Census Report, Muslims constitute 9.67 per cent of Gujarat&rsquo;s population. They are mostly located in Urban Gujarat (14.75 per cent) with the poor presence in rural areas (5.9 per cent ). There are 20 Assembly constituencies where Muslims can tip the scales of victory for or against of any party. But they have never been represented in the proportion of their population.</p>

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<p>It was only in 1980 when Muslims were last represented in the proportion of their population share. In this year, 12 Muslim MLAs were elected to Gujarat Assembly while in 1985, 8 MLAs, in 1990 2 MLAs, in 1995 1 MLA, in 1998 5 MLAs, in 2002 3 MLAs, in 2007 5 MLAs and finally in 2012, only 2 Muslim MLAs who got elected.</p>

<p>Interestingly, in 2017, a large number of Muslims have shown their interest in contesting elections from BJP and Congress. But neither of these two parties seems to be interested. But they are used in the campaign. It must not be understood here that Muslim interests could be represented by Muslim leaders alone. It has never been in the past and will never be in future too.</p>

<p><strong>Muslim Vote in Gujarat:</strong></p>

<p>Unlike many other states, Muslims have voted for the Congress Party in large number in Gujarat from 1962 to 2012 Assembly elections. Taking advantage of this voting trend, BJP has always projected the Congress as Muslim appeaser and anti-to-Gujarat. There was an interesting change in the BJP&rsquo;s campaign strategy in the last Assembly election. For the first time in 2012, Narendra Modi tried to overtly reach out to the Mulsim voters by launching Sadhbhawna mission and observing 36 one-day fasts in different parts of the Gujarat and manage to mobilise a section of elite Muslims at his rallies. Ironically, Muslims have shifted to BJP in this Assembly election. Lokniti Survey data on Gujarat Assembly elections have proven the shift of Muslims towards BJP as 22 per cent Muslim voters voted for the party.</p>

<p>But contrary to the previous election, neither Narendra Modi nor BJP is making a direct appeal to the Muslims. Instead, the party is using its minority cell members from across India to campaign for BJP in Gujarat in 2017.</p>

<p>Why did Muslims of Gujarat support the BJP in 2012 that is perceived to profess an anti-Muslim agenda? First, I argue that there is nothing called monolith Muslim votes. Muslim voters like all voters are divided along individual, caste, communal, class, sect and other heterogeneous lines.</p>

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<p>Traditionally, 6-8 per cent Muslims in Gujarat had always voted for the BJP before and in immediate years after 2002. For long, a sizable number of Shia Muslim sects engaged in mercantile occupations like Dawoodi Bohra voted for the BJP. Similarly, Sunni Muslims have also given their tacit support to BJP candidates in many Assembly constituencies. The 2012 elections already witnessed a visible upsurge in Muslim support for the BJP even when none of the 182 candidates was a Muslim.</p>

<p>Second, the decline of Congress in the state frustrated the Muslims. A majority of Muslims felt their inability to defeat BJP on their own due to the consolidation of Hindu votes. As a result, Muslims in Hindu dominant constituencies publicly supported the BJP to gain the material advantage from the local MLA and seek security in return. Third, economically poor Muslims and those living in mixed localities have voted for BJP.</p>

<p>The most interesting trend in 2017 is the way Congress and BJP are contesting the election with the relatively common strategy of caste and community polarisation as they cannot survive electorally without it. There is every possibility that the mobilisation on religious wedge issues will speed up with the active engagement of both the parties till the Election Day.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


The 2012 elections already witnessed a visible upsurge in Muslim support for the BJP even when none of the 182 candidates was a Muslim.

Like many others, Muslims of Gujarat are disillusioned with politics, politicians and political parties who claim to represent them. It is because of the continual shortfall between what politicians promise them and what they deliver. The most serious concern of the Muslims is the rising communalisation of the political atmosphere of Gujarat and their consequent insecurities, elections after elections. Demographic Value and Political Representation of Muslims: As per the 2011 Census Report, Muslims constitute 9.67 per cent of Gujarat’s population. They are mostly located in Urban Gujarat (14.75 per cent) with the poor presence in rural areas (5.9 per cent ). There are 20 Assembly constituencies where Muslims can tip the scales of victory for or against of any party. But they have never been represented in the proportion of their population. In 2017, a large number of Muslims have shown their interest in contesting elections from BJP and Congress. × It was only in 1980 when Muslims were last represented in the proportion of their population share. In this year, 12 Muslim MLAs were elected to Gujarat Assembly while in 1985, 8 MLAs, in 1990 2 MLAs, in 1995 1 MLA, in 1998 5 MLAs, in 2002 3 MLAs, in 2007 5 MLAs and finally in 2012, only 2 Muslim MLAs who got elected. Interestingly, in 2017, a large number of Muslims have shown their interest in contesting elections from BJP and Congress. But neither of these two parties seems to be interested. But they are used in the campaign. It must not be understood here that Muslim interests could be represented by Muslim leaders alone. It has never been in the past and will never be in future too. Muslim Vote in Gujarat: Unlike many other states, Muslims have voted for the Congress Party in large number in Gujarat from 1962 to 2012 Assembly elections. Taking advantage of this voting trend, BJP has always projected the Congress as Muslim appeaser and anti-to-Gujarat. There was an interesting change in the BJP’s campaign strategy in the last Assembly election. For the first time in 2012, Narendra Modi tried to overtly reach out to the Mulsim voters by launching Sadhbhawna mission and observing 36 one-day fasts in different parts of the Gujarat and manage to mobilise a section of elite Muslims at his rallies. Ironically, Muslims have shifted to BJP in this Assembly election. Lokniti Survey data on Gujarat Assembly elections have proven the shift of Muslims towards BJP as 22 per cent Muslim voters voted for the party. But contrary to the previous election, neither Narendra Modi nor BJP is making a direct appeal to the Muslims. Instead, the party is using its minority cell members from across India to campaign for BJP in Gujarat in 2017. Why did Muslims of Gujarat support the BJP in 2012 that is perceived to profess an anti-Muslim agenda? First, I argue that there is nothing called monolith Muslim votes. Muslim voters like all voters are divided along individual, caste, communal, class, sect and other heterogeneous lines. The 2012 elections already witnessed a visible upsurge in Muslim support for the BJP even when none of the 182 candidates was a Muslim. × Traditionally, 6-8 per cent Muslims in Gujarat had always voted for the BJP before and in immediate years after 2002. For long, a sizable number of Shia Muslim sects engaged in mercantile occupations like Dawoodi Bohra voted for the BJP. Similarly, Sunni Muslims have also given their tacit support to BJP candidates in many Assembly constituencies. The 2012 elections already witnessed a visible upsurge in Muslim support for the BJP even when none of the 182 candidates was a Muslim. Second, the decline of Congress in the state frustrated the Muslims. A majority of Muslims felt their inability to defeat BJP on their own due to the consolidation of Hindu votes. As a result, Muslims in Hindu dominant constituencies publicly supported the BJP to gain the material advantage from the local MLA and seek security in return. Third, economically poor Muslims and those living in mixed localities have voted for BJP. The most interesting trend in 2017 is the way Congress and BJP are contesting the election with the relatively common strategy of caste and community polarisation as they cannot survive electorally without it. There is every possibility that the mobilisation on religious wedge issues will speed up with the active engagement of both the parties till the Election Day.

Why Muslims of Gujarat are voting for BJP

<p>Gearing up for Gujarat election, the BJP is distributing a letter written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>

<p>The handwritten letter is being distributed in a door-to-door campaign by the BJP. &quot;Gujarat is my soul and my God,&quot; PM Modi has said in the letter written in Gujarati script.</p>

<p>Highlighting BJP&rsquo;s achievements, PM Modi has said that his party has ensured all-round development of Gujarat. &quot;Gujarat is synonymous with development. The state has good roads and high level of women safety,&quot; the PM has said.</p>

<p>The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases - on December 9 and 14 - and counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.&nbsp;</p>


The handwritten letter is being distributed in a door-to-door campaign by the BJP. "Gujarat is my soul and my God," PM Modi has said in the letter written in Gujarati script.

Gearing up for Gujarat election, the BJP is distributing a letter written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The handwritten letter is being distributed in a door-to-door campaign by the BJP. "Gujarat is my soul and my God," PM Modi has said in the letter written in Gujarati script. Highlighting BJP’s achievements, PM Modi has said that his party has ensured all-round development of Gujarat. "Gujarat is synonymous with development. The state has good roads and high level of women safety," the PM has said. The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases - on December 9 and 14 - and counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Gujarat polls: BJP launchers door-to-door campaign with PM Modi's letter

<p>The BJP on Wednesday attacked the Congress by saying that &#39;ease of doing corruption&#39; has been replaced by the ease of doing business.</p>

<p>&quot;The difference between the UPA and NDA - &#39;The ease of doing corruption has been replaced by the ease of doing business&#39;,&quot; tweeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.</p>

<p>Jaitley was responding to Rahul Gandhi&#39;s charge that there was no ease of doing business in India as demonetisation and GST destroyed everything.</p>

<p>Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat&#39;s Bharuch,&nbsp; Gandhi said that BJP will &quot;get a&nbsp;shock of their life&quot; on the day of Gujarat election and added, &quot;there was no ease of doing business in India as demonetisation and GST have destroyed everything&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;The BJP has been in power for the last three years. How many Swiss account holders are in jail? Tell me,&quot; the Gandhi scion asked saying that Vijay Mallya was still enjoying in the&nbsp;UK, he further said.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
&quot;Modiji gave loan worth Rs 33,000 crore for Tata Nano plant, almost free, charging the least possible rate. Using that money, they could have written off the loans of the farmers. Farmers in Gujarat are crying, they are being suppressed,&#39;&#39; he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the UPA dispensation under the rule of&nbsp;Manmohan Singh of draining the country of its resources worth approximately 12-14 lakh crore through various corrupt scams.</p>

<p>&quot;Today when Rahul Gandhi is, in fact, challenging the World Bank&#39;s data saying that he knows as to how this data is produced, Rahul Gandhi should be answering whom he believes,&nbsp;his Pidi or the world bank,&quot; Patra added.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi said there was no ease of doing business in India as demonetisation and GST have destroyed everything.

The BJP on Wednesday attacked the Congress by saying that 'ease of doing corruption' has been replaced by the ease of doing business. "The difference between the UPA and NDA - 'The ease of doing corruption has been replaced by the ease of doing business'," tweeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Jaitley was responding to Rahul Gandhi's charge that there was no ease of doing business in India as demonetisation and GST destroyed everything. Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat's Bharuch, Gandhi said that BJP will "get a shock of their life" on the day of Gujarat election and added, "there was no ease of doing business in India as demonetisation and GST have destroyed everything". "The BJP has been in power for the last three years. How many Swiss account holders are in jail? Tell me," the Gandhi scion asked saying that Vijay Mallya was still enjoying in the UK, he further said. "Modiji gave loan worth Rs 33,000 crore for Tata Nano plant, almost free, charging the least possible rate. Using that money, they could have written off the loans of the farmers. Farmers in Gujarat are crying, they are being suppressed,'' he added. Earlier BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused the UPA dispensation under the rule of Manmohan Singh of draining the country of its resources worth approximately 12-14 lakh crore through various corrupt scams. "Today when Rahul Gandhi is, in fact, challenging the World Bank's data saying that he knows as to how this data is produced, Rahul Gandhi should be answering whom he believes, his Pidi or the world bank," Patra added.

'Ease of doing corruption' replaced by ease of doing business: Arun Jaitley taunts UPA

<p>The Congress on Sunday invited Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani to meet party vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state on Monday ahead of the assembly polls.</p>

<p>Gandhi will take part in &#39;Navsarjan Gujarat Janadesh&rsquo; rally organised by the party in Gandhinagar where OBC leader Alpesh Thakor will join the Congress.</p>

<p>Congress&#39;s invite to Hardik Patel and Mevani comes a day after its state unit president Bharatsinh Solanki extended open invitation to Patel, Mevani and Thakor to join the party to ensure the ruling BJP&#39;s defeat.</p>

<p>&quot;Rahul Gandhi will be coming to Ahmedabad tomorrow. We have invited Hardik Patel and other leaders of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti. They had given a memorandum to us and we are positive about their demands,&quot; Solanki said on Sunday.</p>

<p>&quot;Rahul-ji will hold a meeting with them before the rally and discuss all the issues and will invite them to support the Congress,&quot; Solanki said.</p>

<p>&quot;We have separately invited Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and others after the rally; Rahul-ji will meet them and discuss their issues,&quot; Solanki said.</p>

<p>Thakor, the leader of OBC Ekta Manch, will join the Congress with his associates at the rally, Solanki said.</p>

<p>Gandhi is also likely to meet Chotu Vasava, the leader of Janata Dal (U) in Gujarat, during his one-day visit.</p>

<p>Thakor met Gandhi in Delhi yesterday and later announced that he would soon join the party.</p>

<p>The Congress, which is out of power in Gujarat for 22 years, is wooing leaders such as Hardik Patel, Mevani and Thakor who have significant support base in their respective communities.</p>


The Congress on Sunday invited Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani to meet party vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state on Monday ahead of the assembly polls.

The Congress on Sunday invited Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani to meet party vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state on Monday ahead of the assembly polls. Gandhi will take part in 'Navsarjan Gujarat Janadesh’ rally organised by the party in Gandhinagar where OBC leader Alpesh Thakor will join the Congress. Congress's invite to Hardik Patel and Mevani comes a day after its state unit president Bharatsinh Solanki extended open invitation to Patel, Mevani and Thakor to join the party to ensure the ruling BJP's defeat. "Rahul Gandhi will be coming to Ahmedabad tomorrow. We have invited Hardik Patel and other leaders of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti. They had given a memorandum to us and we are positive about their demands," Solanki said on Sunday. "Rahul-ji will hold a meeting with them before the rally and discuss all the issues and will invite them to support the Congress," Solanki said. "We have separately invited Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and others after the rally; Rahul-ji will meet them and discuss their issues," Solanki said. Thakor, the leader of OBC Ekta Manch, will join the Congress with his associates at the rally, Solanki said. Gandhi is also likely to meet Chotu Vasava, the leader of Janata Dal (U) in Gujarat, during his one-day visit. Thakor met Gandhi in Delhi yesterday and later announced that he would soon join the party. The Congress, which is out of power in Gujarat for 22 years, is wooing leaders such as Hardik Patel, Mevani and Thakor who have significant support base in their respective communities.

OBC leader Alpesh Thakor to join Congress at Rahul Gandhi rally; Hardik Patel invited too

<p>Undoubtedly, by not announcing the electoral scheme for Gujarat, Election Commission of India got derailed from its conventional path. Many doubted the fairness of this constitutional body. The reasons were located in the avoidance of model code of conduct that may have come in the way of possible announcements of policy dividends by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at Gujarat Gaurav Mahasammelan scheduled on 16th October 2017 in Gandhinagar.</p>

<p>But against this proposition, Narendra Modi has relied more on symbolism than substance. There were forms and styles of immediate or non-mediated politics than actual dividends. Also, there was nothing exotic about his recent address in this poll-bound state. We have merely got the sense of his anxiety over the possible waning of his aura and shifting social constituencies from the fold of BJP.</p>

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<p>In his address, there were allegations, appeasement, glorification and realisations. The BJP&rsquo;s anti-Congress position was unduly hyped. Pasts were invoked to demean Congress, particularly in relation to its treatment of Gujarat and Gujarat&rsquo;s leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Madhavsinha Solanki and, finally, Narendra Modi himself. Indeed, there seems to be an emerging realisation of his party&rsquo;s failure in delivering economic comfort to the people through demonetisation and GST as the complicity of other parties were highlighted in GST&rsquo;s implementation.</p>

<p>In a more ironic ways, Narendra Modi has revived the memories of 2002 Gujarat riots in a subtle reference to the Congress&rsquo; conspiracies to victimise him. BJP was highlighted more as a regional force representing Gujarati pride and Gujarati&rsquo;s sub-nationalism. Most significantly, OBCs, Dalits, Tribals and farmers were appeased by highlighting their numerical representation in BJP.</p>

<p>Be that as it may, the speech of Narendra Modi lends support to the following emerging realities in Gujarat. First, unlike the assembly elections since the mid-1990s, the 2017 elections for 182 Assembly seats is not a cake walk for BJP. It has become competitive with the refashioning of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to fight the Gujarat elections on all fronts, including social media.</p>

<p>Second, there is a growing realisation among BJP members about the possible disillusionment of a sizable number of voters with the party&rsquo;s two-decade-old regime.</p>

<p>Third, the repeated Gujarat model of development is losing appeal among the marginalised sections of Gujarat. Fourth, there is an &lsquo;invisible discontent in making&rsquo; over the poorly designed economic policies like GST and demonetisation. In view of these developments, it should perhaps hardly be surprising if BJP loses its substantial assembly seats and vote share in the forthcoming elections.</p>

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<p>The 2017 Gujarat Assembly election is different in multiple senses. First, it will act as a prelude to the BJP&rsquo;s performance in 2019 Lok Sabha elections the way 2012 did for 2014 Lok Sabha. The expansive tide of Narendra Modi&rsquo;s charisma will receive a severe jolt in 2019 if BJP performs even reasonably poor in the home state of the Prime Minister. It must be noted that Gujarat has always worked for BJP as a laboratory for the unique convergence of neo-liberal policies, Hindutva nationalism and regional sub-nationalism.</p>

<p>Second, in the absence of Narendra Modi as the chief ministerial candidate, 2017 Assembly election is going to be the first election after 2001 when Gujarat will be facing the crisis of a credible chief ministerial face. It is reminding a situation of the 1990s when Gujarat experienced the rotation of chief ministerial candidates due to high factionalism within the party, such as Keshubhai Patel (March 1995 to Oct 1995), Sureshchandra Mehta (Oct 1995 to Sept 1996) and Narendra Modi (2001-14). Similar situations prevail&nbsp;now when we noticed the rotation of CMs from Anandiben Patel (May 2014-August 2016) to Vijay Rupani (August 2016 to present). Gujarat is missing the management of Modi who became chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 and led the party to election victories in 2002, 2007 and 2012.</p>

<p>Third, there are strong oppositions to BJP from non-Congress forces like Alpesh Thakor (convenor of Kshatriya Thakor Sena), Hardik Patel (convenor of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti) and Jignesh Mewani (convenor of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch). Third, with the exit of Shankarsinh Vaghela, Congress is no more as factionalised as it was in early days. Fourth, BJP is experiencing the loss of morale with the reporting of The Wire on Amit Shah&rsquo;s son and the entry of Sukhram in the party.</p>

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<h5>Despite all odds and the changing dynamics of Gujarat, BJP is well placed in the state in the 14th Assembly elections as well.</h5>
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<p>Despite all odds and the changing dynamics of Gujarat, BJP is well placed in the state in the 14th Assembly elections as well. BJP&rsquo;s performance steadily improved from 27 per cent of the vote in 1990 to 50 per cent in 2002. However, the party registered the marginal decline in terms of vote share from 49 per cent in 2007 to 48 per cent in 2012. It has gained Assembly seats from 121 in 1995 to 117 in 1998 and gained highest ever of 127 in 2002 but again a slight decline took place from 2007 as it got 117 seats and 116 in 2012.</p>

<p>What makes Gujarat a stronghold of BJP over the last two decades? There are many reasons. First, Gujarat has never been the subject of lower caste movements and, thus, no challenge is being offered to BJP from this section of the society. Second, Muslims strategically failed to articulate their political voice. Third, there is a near absence of Adivasi movements or struggles for demanding a share in forest resources and land rights. Fourth, farmer&rsquo;s movement has already been co-opted by the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh of RSS. Fifth, there is a minimal caste and factional division within the BJP in the state. Sixth, the political mobilisations in Gujarat have always been steered by the higher and dominant castes like Mahagujrat movement for the creation of Gujarat, Nav Nirman movement against corruption, anti-reservation protests, and, finally, Ayodhya movement.</p>

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<h5>In India and particularly Gujarat, the cultural emotions rather reason played a powerful role in directing the voting behaviour of the people.</h5>
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<p>Above all, BJP in Gujarat remained highly cohesive, centralised and ideologically committed and strongly supported by the RSS. It would be difficult to challenge the party&rsquo;s strong ties to local administrators and network of civil society organisations, including industrial groups, caste associations and religious organisations. BJP is no longer an urban-centric party rather it penetrated heavily in rural areas using RSS&rsquo;s Bhartiya Kisan Sangh. BJP has made significant gains among two large OBCs, the Kshatriyas and Kolis since 2012. But it remains to be seen whether Hardik Patel&rsquo;s claim that BJP discriminated against the Patidars become popular election issue or not.</p>

<p>Will BJP be the subject or victim of tribal anger? No ways.</p>

<p>As it appears, Congress will lose significantly the tribal votes as BJP has made a successful dent in the Adivasi areas using its affiliate organisations and their programmes like VHP&rsquo;s Ekal Vidyalayas, RSS&rsquo;s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram as well as policy dividends like Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and Vanvasi Kalyan Yojna. The service network of RSS is unmatched as the organisation often indulged in relief camps and distribution of food grain, medicines and clothes to tribals.</p>

<p>Whatever may be, in India and particularly Gujarat, the cultural emotions rather reason played a powerful role in directing the voting behaviour of the people. It is because cultural attachments are easily generated and profoundly felt. We have always witnessed the moments when the miseries of poor economics are forgotten while making political choices. It can be seen in the caste and communal prejudices that are endemic in our society as is the narrow forms of nationalism. It is more manifest when elections are due. Certainly, Gujarat is also going to face the old forms of stereotypes and political mobilisation that can lead to seeing the pluralism as evil in a very schizophrenic fashion and polarisation as the only game plan.</p>


Gujarat has always worked for BJP as a laboratory for the unique convergence of neo-liberal policies, Hindutva nationalism and regional sub-nationalism.

Undoubtedly, by not announcing the electoral scheme for Gujarat, Election Commission of India got derailed from its conventional path. Many doubted the fairness of this constitutional body. The reasons were located in the avoidance of model code of conduct that may have come in the way of possible announcements of policy dividends by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at Gujarat Gaurav Mahasammelan scheduled on 16th October 2017 in Gandhinagar. But against this proposition, Narendra Modi has relied more on symbolism than substance. There were forms and styles of immediate or non-mediated politics than actual dividends. Also, there was nothing exotic about his recent address in this poll-bound state. We have merely got the sense of his anxiety over the possible waning of his aura and shifting social constituencies from the fold of BJP. BJP was highlighted more as a regional force representing Gujarati pride and Gujarati’s sub-nationalism. × In his address, there were allegations, appeasement, glorification and realisations. The BJP’s anti-Congress position was unduly hyped. Pasts were invoked to demean Congress, particularly in relation to its treatment of Gujarat and Gujarat’s leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Madhavsinha Solanki and, finally, Narendra Modi himself. Indeed, there seems to be an emerging realisation of his party’s failure in delivering economic comfort to the people through demonetisation and GST as the complicity of other parties were highlighted in GST’s implementation. In a more ironic ways, Narendra Modi has revived the memories of 2002 Gujarat riots in a subtle reference to the Congress’ conspiracies to victimise him. BJP was highlighted more as a regional force representing Gujarati pride and Gujarati’s sub-nationalism. Most significantly, OBCs, Dalits, Tribals and farmers were appeased by highlighting their numerical representation in BJP. Be that as it may, the speech of Narendra Modi lends support to the following emerging realities in Gujarat. First, unlike the assembly elections since the mid-1990s, the 2017 elections for 182 Assembly seats is not a cake walk for BJP. It has become competitive with the refashioning of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to fight the Gujarat elections on all fronts, including social media. Second, there is a growing realisation among BJP members about the possible disillusionment of a sizable number of voters with the party’s two-decade-old regime. Third, the repeated Gujarat model of development is losing appeal among the marginalised sections of Gujarat. Fourth, there is an ‘invisible discontent in making’ over the poorly designed economic policies like GST and demonetisation. In view of these developments, it should perhaps hardly be surprising if BJP loses its substantial assembly seats and vote share in the forthcoming elections. Gujarat has always worked for BJP as a laboratory for the unique convergence of neo-liberal policies, Hindutva nationalism and regional sub-nationalism. × The 2017 Gujarat Assembly election is different in multiple senses. First, it will act as a prelude to the BJP’s performance in 2019 Lok Sabha elections the way 2012 did for 2014 Lok Sabha. The expansive tide of Narendra Modi’s charisma will receive a severe jolt in 2019 if BJP performs even reasonably poor in the home state of the Prime Minister. It must be noted that Gujarat has always worked for BJP as a laboratory for the unique convergence of neo-liberal policies, Hindutva nationalism and regional sub-nationalism. Second, in the absence of Narendra Modi as the chief ministerial candidate, 2017 Assembly election is going to be the first election after 2001 when Gujarat will be facing the crisis of a credible chief ministerial face. It is reminding a situation of the 1990s when Gujarat experienced the rotation of chief ministerial candidates due to high factionalism within the party, such as Keshubhai Patel (March 1995 to Oct 1995), Sureshchandra Mehta (Oct 1995 to Sept 1996) and Narendra Modi (2001-14). Similar situations prevail now when we noticed the rotation of CMs from Anandiben Patel (May 2014-August 2016) to Vijay Rupani (August 2016 to present). Gujarat is missing the management of Modi who became chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 and led the party to election victories in 2002, 2007 and 2012. Third, there are strong oppositions to BJP from non-Congress forces like Alpesh Thakor (convenor of Kshatriya Thakor Sena), Hardik Patel (convenor of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti) and Jignesh Mewani (convenor of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch). Third, with the exit of Shankarsinh Vaghela, Congress is no more as factionalised as it was in early days. Fourth, BJP is experiencing the loss of morale with the reporting of The Wire on Amit Shah’s son and the entry of Sukhram in the party. Despite all odds and the changing dynamics of Gujarat, BJP is well placed in the state in the 14th Assembly elections as well. × Despite all odds and the changing dynamics of Gujarat, BJP is well placed in the state in the 14th Assembly elections as well. BJP’s performance steadily improved from 27 per cent of the vote in 1990 to 50 per cent in 2002. However, the party registered the marginal decline in terms of vote share from 49 per cent in 2007 to 48 per cent in 2012. It has gained Assembly seats from 121 in 1995 to 117 in 1998 and gained highest ever of 127 in 2002 but again a slight decline took place from 2007 as it got 117 seats and 116 in 2012. What makes Gujarat a stronghold of BJP over the last two decades? There are many reasons. First, Gujarat has never been the subject of lower caste movements and, thus, no challenge is being offered to BJP from this section of the society. Second, Muslims strategically failed to articulate their political voice. Third, there is a near absence of Adivasi movements or struggles for demanding a share in forest resources and land rights. Fourth, farmer’s movement has already been co-opted by the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh of RSS. Fifth, there is a minimal caste and factional division within the BJP in the state. Sixth, the political mobilisations in Gujarat have always been steered by the higher and dominant castes like Mahagujrat movement for the creation of Gujarat, Nav Nirman movement against corruption, anti-reservation protests, and, finally, Ayodhya movement. In India and particularly Gujarat, the cultural emotions rather reason played a powerful role in directing the voting behaviour of the people. × Above all, BJP in Gujarat remained highly cohesive, centralised and ideologically committed and strongly supported by the RSS. It would be difficult to challenge the party’s strong ties to local administrators and network of civil society organisations, including industrial groups, caste associations and religious organisations. BJP is no longer an urban-centric party rather it penetrated heavily in rural areas using RSS’s Bhartiya Kisan Sangh. BJP has made significant gains among two large OBCs, the Kshatriyas and Kolis since 2012. But it remains to be seen whether Hardik Patel’s claim that BJP discriminated against the Patidars become popular election issue or not. Will BJP be the subject or victim of tribal anger? No ways. As it appears, Congress will lose significantly the tribal votes as BJP has made a successful dent in the Adivasi areas using its affiliate organisations and their programmes like VHP’s Ekal Vidyalayas, RSS’s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram as well as policy dividends like Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and Vanvasi Kalyan Yojna. The service network of RSS is unmatched as the organisation often indulged in relief camps and distribution of food grain, medicines and clothes to tribals. Whatever may be, in India and particularly Gujarat, the cultural emotions rather reason played a powerful role in directing the voting behaviour of the people. It is because cultural attachments are easily generated and profoundly felt. We have always witnessed the moments when the miseries of poor economics are forgotten while making political choices. It can be seen in the caste and communal prejudices that are endemic in our society as is the narrow forms of nationalism. It is more manifest when elections are due. Certainly, Gujarat is also going to face the old forms of stereotypes and political mobilisation that can lead to seeing the pluralism as evil in a very schizophrenic fashion and polarisation as the only game plan.

Pluralism vs polarisation: BJP's plan to win Gujarat

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