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. 

Rahul Gandhi makeover: Shine in Rahul's shadow

Bhukh hai to sabra kar, roti nahi to kya hua,

Aajkal Dilli mein hai zere bahas e mudda -- Dushyant Kumar.

CONGRESS vice president Rahul Gandhi suddenly discovered Dushyant Kumar. This claim may be in the realm of suspicion. More apt would be to say that Rahul began dishing out couplets of Dushyant Kumar from his book of Ghazal Saaye mein Dhoop. Rahul, who had been struggling to find a coherent narrative, began hitting headlines by borrowing from the pathos in couplets of Dushyant Kumar.

Dushyant Kumar is hailed as Mirza Ghalib of Hindi. He himself had been a self proclaimed admirer of Ghalib. He admits that he did not have even the hundredth of the talent of Ghalib. Yet, he notes that his pains are no less than that of Ghalib, which made the Urdu poet an immortal for those who feel their hearts beating.

"I don't believe that my pain is less than Ghalib's, or I felt them with lesser passion. It may be possible that each may have such false notion concerning his or her feelings. But history is testimony to all my pains," Dushyant Kumar writes in the introduction to "Saaye mein Dhoop". 

Dushyant Kumar had been a favourite for speakers in 80's and 90's, who sought to make an impact with their audiences. Sometimes, it did not matter whether the couplets of Dushyant Kumar related to the topic at hand. But, it had been fashionable to recall a few couplets with flair to convince the audiences of speaker's depth in literature. 

Kahan to tay tha chiragan harek ghar ke liye,

kahan chirag mayassar nahi shahar ke liye;

yahan darakhton ke saaye me dhoop lagati hai,

chalo yahan se chalen aur umra bhar ke liye.

Above couplets came out in all flair from a senior IPS officer in 90's, while speaking at an annual function of a local club. Dushyant Kumar's yearnings to run away from the pathos had no relevance with the topic of the evening. Yet, the couplets gave depth to his speech, with all clapping and admiration coming in plenty.

Rahul has dished out many other couplets from "Saaye mein Dhoop" with high stake Gujarat

Assembly elections playing out at a time when he's set on the path to take the baton from his mother Sonia Gandhi for the leadership of the party.  Indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the source of pathos for the couplets dished out by the Gandhi scion.

Within the BJP, Modi detractors have seemingly refreshed their memories of the lines of "Saaye mein Dhoop". Ab kisi ko bhi nazar aati nahi darar, ghar ki har deewar par chipke haen itne ishthaar came handy for Shatrughan Sinha when he sought to lash out at Modi and his "council of sycophants" while speaking in the company of Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Yadav, Ali Anwar, D Raja and others.  

THIS blogger, while mapping the political journey of Rahul, had previously termed him a submarine politician. That adrenaline shoots in his veins in the times of elections followed by long phase of hibernation in cooler chimes had indeed been Rahul's imprints on Indian politics. His arguably incoherent articulation of issues critical to a large number of people had been well documented. He once believed that escape velocity would be required for the people to break off from poverty; or, that power had been poison; or, the Indo-US nuclear deal had been critical to light the bulbs in the huts of Kalawati to ensure her daughters went to schools. His intellectual imprints on India's socio-political canvas have surely left fodder for analysis. 

Now that Rahul is diving into the Dushyant Kumar's treasure, it would indeed be key to find if he has begun connecting with the people. Himachal Pradesh is currently one of the few states being ruled by the Congress. Barring Karnataka and Punjab, the Congress could hardly count any other big states in its kitty. Thus, it must have been incumbent upon Rahul to defend Himachal Pradesh fiercely from the BJP chief Amit Shah, who is seeking a literal translation of Congress mukt Bharat.      

But the Gandhi scion could spare just one day to address three rallies in the hilly state where the octogenarian Veerbhadra Singh was left to fend with himself against the combined might of Modi-Shah, besides open rebellion from within the party ranks. 

Women in Kangra advising Rahul to work on his communication skills

On the campaign trail, this blogger sought out from the locals in the state if they missed Rahul at a time when they had to make the crucial decision to choose party/candidate to vote for. From Kangra to Palampur, from Hamirpur to Dharamshala, the common refrain was that the locals did not miss Rahul in their states. Some had suggestions for Rahul, that he should cease to be in a hurry to explain an issue. He should connect with the people; he seems to be in a great hurry; he's angry most of the times without explaining hos source of anger, opined a section of voters in Himachal Pradesh, which also included a few who hailed from the local Congress units.

"Rahul seems angry all the times. But we don't understand reasons for his anger. He should explain with little more leisure. He needs to improve his communication skills," Ritu Dadhwal (In pix) told this blogger in Jwalamukhi in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, 

Dushyant Kumar is a literary delight. His pathos survives. But Rahul may need to go beyond quoting from  "Saaye mein Dhoop".