Two BJP-ruled states are set for assembly polls and the campaign is currently on. Voting is on November 12 in Himachal Pradesh while the Gujarat schedule could be released this week. Hints are that the results will be out together on December 8. Nothing goes to show the BJP can be trounced in Gujarat as long as Prime Minister Modi holds the reins in Delhi. Gujaratis are a community for whom politics, social activism and education are low-priority areas. Their minds are occupied by merchandise, business and money-making, evident also in that the nation’s top two business honchos, the Ambanis and the Adanis, are Gujaratis. Yet, despite PM Modi’s record as chief minister, a largely ignored lot by politicians in Gujarat is the “aam admi,” the poor, illiterate multitudes. It is here that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is anchoring his party’s electoral hopes on. On Modi’s part, he has taken the politically right steps forward in Gujarat all along. Industrialization is massive; and several high-profile institutions and businesses are being led to Gujarat at the cost mainly of Maharashtra since 2014. He has also pleased the Patels, the most-powerful community, while the poor are fed with a diet of ‘big talks’ from the podium.
As for Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has double the strength of the Congress in the present assembly, around 40 and 20, and the other parties are namesakes. The CPI-M, which got one seat and no more than 1.50 per cent of the polled votes in the last polls, has been working hard to win the support of farmers, meaning mainly the apple-growing community, by seeking abolition of the GST on cartons etc. Rootless parties have never been short of making big “demands” and promises. The AAP is not a force there. By present reckoning, the BJP is unassailable and party chief JP Nadda with his family roots there should know the way forward. Fact, however, is the “double-engine” government of the party has not been able to work wonders on the economic front. The scenic hill state’s economy, majorly driven by tourism, was hit by the Covid-related curbs. Overall development was at a slow pace, unlike in Gujarat. If the BJP wins the two states, the next round of polls involving Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh etc., could see the BJP gaining more moral courage from this victory. What difference the new leadership of the Congress party, still in the formation stage, could make to this scenario is worth a close watch.
