Campaigning drew to a close on Tuesday evening for the second phase of assembly elections in Gujarat. Voting for 93 seats will be held on Thursday. Elections were held on 89 seats on December 9. Results will be declared on December 18.
The high pitch campaign, over the last few months, witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi, top BJP and Congress leaders touring the length and breadth of the state to address public meetings.
The last day on Tuesday saw Modi taking off in a seaplane from Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam and then going by road to Ambaji to have darshan of Goddess Amba. He returned to Ahmedabad by seaplane. Rahul visited Lord Jagannath temple and thereafter met the press.
Patidar stir leader Hardik Patel addressed public meetings in Rupal, near Gandhinagar and Vadodara, a BJP bastion.
The campaign saw Modi playing a victim card a number of times. He sought to remind the public how the Congress party had targetted him over his humble background as tea seller. He also played up the “neech” remark by Mani Shankar Aiyar, even after the latter was suspended from Congress.
In the last couple of days, he even brought in the angle of Pakistan by alleging that the neighbouring country wants to make Congress leader Ahmed Patel the chief minister of Gujarat. Pakistan has, however, denied the allegation outright.
Rahul on the other hand has asked 14 questions to Modi on development through his twitter handle. In his public speeches, Rahul has spoken about the problems faced due to demonetisation and GST, and also repeatedly highlighted money given to TATA NANO plant by the state government.
Both the arch rivals have played soft Hindutva during the campaigns with both Modi and Rahul visiting temples quite often. Neither the Congress nor the BJP have spoken about the Muslims.
The 2017 assembly election is a prestige issue for the BJP, which has been in power for the last 22 years. The party has set a target of winning 150 plus seats out of the total 182 seats. The highest number of seats won by a party in the state was in 1985. The Congress had won 149 seats that time under former chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki
The results are expected to have a bearing at the national level as elections to several states are fast approaching ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2019. It will also test BJP president Amit Shah's credentials as campaign manager. Modi has taken the poll on to himself.
If the BJP lose or make through with a slender margin, it is feared that rumblings could begin within the party.
In the event of Congress performing well, it will increase Rahul's stature and acceptance at the national level.
