Gujarat Election 2019 : Modi-Shah duo guard against Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani
BJP in Gujarat swept all 26 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which could be attributed to Modi wave then.
The situation is bit different this time as the BJP’s vote bank is now split on community lines though the party has been trying hard to keep the flock intact. In short, it will be the community card that will be at play this Lok Sabha polls.
BJP convinced Congress’ influential OBC leaders like Kunvarji Bavaliya and Javahar Chawda who became the ministers in CM Vijay Rupani’s cabinet.
Congress has been trying to appeal the voters on the issues like the agrarian crisis, farmers’ debt, unemployment, GST and demonetisation. These are the same issues that the party raised during Gujarat polls too and could help Congress fare better. However, the party was not able to form the government in the state as the urban voters remained with BJP.
BJP failed to hit a century in the Assembly polls held in 2017, though Modi-Shah duo led the campaign from the front as the Assembly elections were happening in their home state.
Narendra Modi seems powerful however, had changed direction and voters had started to flocking towards leaders like Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, who took up their communities’ cause and ran agitations, albeit the agendas were different. Both the leaders, directly or indirectly, helped Congress win 77 seats.