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Day after BJP’s victory in four states, Modi hits Gujarat trail
The PM, who led the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign in the recently concluded five-state elections from the front, spent his day in Ahmedabad addressing a cross-section of people and party leaders.
Less than 24 hours after his party won a historic mandate in Uttar Pradesh and retained power in three other states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was back on the election campaign trail on Friday, with a grand roadshow in his home state of Gujarat.
The PM, who led the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign in the recently concluded five-state elections from the front, spent his day in Ahmedabad addressing a cross-section of people and party leaders.
His two-day trip is expected to set the tone for the Gujarat assembly elections, scheduled to be held in December. The BJP has not lost an election in the state, which is home to Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, since 1998.
In his speech, Modi stressed on his party’s governance agenda, appearing to launch the party’s election campaign a day after a gruelling poll season concluded.
“See the power of democracy. In states with no repeat theory, our party has retained power. This is because we believe in all-round development,” PM Modi said in his address at the Panchayat Mahasammelan at GMDC grounds in Ahmedabad that was attended by nearly 150,000 representatives from Panchayati Raj institutions.
The crowd at the roadshow included young people, village and district panchayat representatives who attended the Panchayat Mahasammelan in Ahmedabad, and BJP workers and senior leaders whom the Prime Minister met at the state party headquarters “Shree Kamalam” in Gandhinagar.
The Ahmedabad roadshow was seen as a victory march for the PM and the BJP, underling the party’s philosophy of relentless campaigning and ground connect with voters.
Riding in an open jeep, accompanied by Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP chief CR Paatil, Modi, wearing a saffron cap and dressed all in white, greeted thousands of supporters and spectators, many waving BJP flags from the roadside along a 9km stretch from Ahmedabad airport to Gandhinagar. Several supporters were heard chanting his name throughout the stretch.
In April 2017, after BJP’s massive victory in Uttar Pradesh, Modi held a similar roadshow in Surat where he sounded the poll bugle for Gujarat assembly elections that were held in December 2017. That year, he was credited for personally pulling the BJP past the majority mark in the state assembly and beating back a strong challenge from the Congress, which won 77 of the 182 assembly seats, its best showing in over two decades.
This time, the Congress looks more listless after having witnessed several desertions and internal dissensions. The BJP virtually changed its entire government in the state last year after ground feedback of anti-incumbency.
Gujarat’s politics has remained bipolar for decades, with the Congress and BJP seen as the only real contenders even though the BJP has remained at the helm since 1998. This year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won a landslide victory in Punjab assembly elections, will be hoping to make inroads in Gujarat.
Despite its impressive record and strong social coalition in place, the BJP is not taking things for granted and signalled as much by the PM’s meet with 400-odd party workers. “Met fellow @BJP4Gujarat leaders and Karyakartas at the state BJP HQ. Discussed how our party organisation can serve the people even more effectively and contribute towards national development,” he tweeted after the meeting.
“PM Modi is a charismatic leader and his latest visit to Gujarat has been to draw the masses ahead of the elections. His address to the Panchayat representatives was an emotional appeal where he reached out to them with a list of initiatives. The Congress in Gujarat needs to rebuild itself which is difficult but not impossible. As far as AAP is concerned, they are yet to emerge as a formidable force in Gujarat,” said Vidyut Joshi, a political analyst and former vice-chancellor of Bhavnagar University.
In its first major win in civic polls, 27 AAP candidates were elected to the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) in February 2021. While BJP retained power, AAP became the opposition party.
“People’s love for our Prime Minister can be seen by the huge number of people who turned up at the roadshow despite the summer heat. His visit to Gujarat has infused fresh energy to the party and to the people of the state,” said BJP Gujarat chief Paatil over the phone.
On Saturday, the PM will attend the convocation ceremony at Rashtriya Raksha University. Later in the day, he will attend the Khel Mahakumbh inaugural function at Sardar Patel Stadium in the Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad.
