Gujarat elections: Hopes in saffron angst land

In 2014, India voted for Gujarat model of development. Three years later, BJP mascot Narendra Modi invented Pakistan's prowess to influence outcome of Gujarat elections. That the Gujarat dream, which swayed India in 2014, seemed dimming in the land of origin was evident in length and breadth of the state. Indeed, the verdict is more than the sum total of issues, and is more subservient to organisational might and pull and pressure of foot soldiers may well be on display again.  

CHINTU Patel is an angry man. Two years ago, he was chased by the police. His wife ran for safety. His daughter was awe struck. He bore the blows of sticks. Scars on his body have still remained. Patel has vowed to vote against the BJP.

Agravat Raj is a diploma holder in computer engineering. In Ahmedabad, he couldn't find a job of more than Rs 6000 pacy check a month. So, he became a driver. Hailing from Rajkot, he had to shift base since his wife is pursuing Masters in computer engineering. It was a love marriage, he firmly states. He knows for sure that the BJP would win, and he too would vote for Modi.     

Villagers benefited with Narmada waters near Bhuj

The British premier Harold Wilson is credited to have said that a week is a long time in politics. Fifteen years certainly should be quite a long time. The 2002 post-Godhra riots gave Gujarat the defining identity of a saffron laboratory. The state politics has been seen through the Hindu-Muslim prism. The communal polarisation has stayed a constant in the state politics for one and a half decades. Ghosts of Godhra weren't given decisive burials. Past suited the politics. The BJP harvested rich electoral  crop.

But Modi moved to New Delhi from Ahmedabad in 2014 to take up a larger responsibilities. Demography too changed. About 52 per cent of the total electorate in Gujarat is stated to be youth. That the youth lives less in the past being more embedded in future is arguably a least contested fact. So, Modi uttered Pakistan word on penultimate day of electioneering. That Kapil Sibal sought Supreme Court adjudication of the Ayodhya Ramjanmbhoomi case's postponement till after 2019 Lok Sabha elections seemingly failed to flare up Gujarati tempers. That a lesser known Congress man demanded an apology from Modi at Babri mosque for Gujarat riots also came as whimper. Demography indeed was dictating the electioneering. And, hence, Modi had to assertively claim that his development credentials had beneficiaries in the poor of the state and not the Ambanis and Tatas.

Chintu Patel was a curious onlooker at a jamboree of Patidars in 2015 in support of reservations for the land owning Patel caste. He empathized with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel. His daughter had secured 85 per cent marks. yet, she didn't get admission in an MBBS course in a medical college. "Her friend had 75 per cent marks, but she got into an MBBS course," Patel rued, saying he favoured scrapping of reservation policy in the country. If Modi is so decisive, why doesn't he scrap this quota, he asked. He's a Kadawa Patel.

"My forefathers were workers in mills in Ahmedabad. They all were shut long back. They resided inside Ahmedabad. Afterwards, they had to move out of Ahmedabad and live on the margins of the city. Lakhs of Kadawa Patels now are out of the city. Many of them are still fighting to claim their providend funds and gratuity," Patel stated.

Unlike Leva Patels, who have emigrated in a great number to the US and other countries, Kadavas are apparently finding in Hardik's campaign for reservation. Patel says, he would vote against the BJP to teach a lesson to Modi and Amit Shah.

AGRAVAT Raj is in his 20s. I had to come to Ahmedabad because my wife is pursuing masters in computer science, he said, while adding in same breath that it was a love marriage for him. "I was working in Rajkot at a salary of Rs 12000. On Facebook, my wife sent a friend's request. In a span of a few months, we were in love. Her father didn't agree. But mother of his muse was alarmed that any violence against him could harm her son and daughter pursuing MBBS courses," Raj Said. He added that her mother-in-law advised him to elope with her daughter. Thus, they got married.

In Ahmedabad, Raj found that there was no job of more than Rs 6,000 a month salary. "It was

Tobacco cultivation in Anand district

worthless to do such a job," he said. Raj, thus, become an Ola cab driver.  After working for more than 14 hours a day, he has Rs 1100 net earnings. "No job can give me Rs 35000 a month. So, I'm now an Ola driver," Raj added.

The young driver said that he would vote for Modi. "You see this Sabarmati riverfront. It was a nullah full of garbage. There used to be long hours of traffic jams. No, we can zip through within minutes. We can earn more. Modi made this happen. I've to work hard to buy more cars which I can give to other drivers. There is no alternative than to work hard," Raj quipped. He hails from an OBC, and is an avowed Modi admirer. 

In between Chintu Patel and Agravat Raj, Gujarat has seemingly moved beyond the simmering embers of Godhra. 

Yet, the electoral verdict is incumbent upon a well oiled organisational machinery. The BJP may well just be far ahead of its rivals.