Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have “given the total go-by to democracy in the selection of the new Chief Minister of Gujarat,” the Congress said in Sunday, hours after Vijay Rupani was sworn in as the CM.
The Congress’s communication chief Randeep Surjewala pointed out to The Hindu that Mr. Shah had himself admitted that six leaders were called in for a meeting, where he and the outgoing Chief Minister Anandiben Patel fought bitterly over who her replacement would be.
“Eventually, the Prime Minister intervened: it was the imposed will of the Modi-Shah duo rather than the popular choice,” Mr. Surjewala said, stressing, “This will impact the governance of the State and has exposed the bitterness and division in the State unit of the BJP.”
Social tensionsIndeed, the recent Dalit uprising in Gujarat — that came on the heels of a prolonged agitation launched by the powerful Patidar community in the State and forced a change of Chief Minister — has laid bare the social tensions in the State. The Congress feels this may provide it with an opportunity in next year’s Assembly elections in the State, where it has been out of power since March 1995.
This is especially so as Mr. Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel, the Congress believes, will not be able to work together even if Mr. Shah personally monitors the government and the organisation.
The first signs of the Congress’s revival were seen in December 2015 when the BJP suffered its worst loss in local body elections in Gujarat in over a decade. The Congress regained the lost ground, especially in rural areas. While the BJP retained all six municipal corporations, the Congress wrested 23 of 31 district panchayats and 113 of 193 taluka panchayats. The BJP continued to hold on to nagarpalikas, or town councils, winning 42 of 56 municipalities.
On Friday and Saturday, Congress leaders gathered in Ahmedabad to deliberate on whether the existing political situation could be turned in their favour as well as how to take on the challenge of the Aam Aadmi Party. There is a concern that whatever advantage the party may derive from the Patidar/Dalit agitations could be neutralised by the AAP.
Those who attended the marathon meetings included Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, state party in-charge Gurudas Kamat, CLP leader Shankarsinh Vaghela and party chief Bharatsinh Solanki. The others represented the eight nagarmahapalikas and districts.
Strengthening partyAt the meeting, given the results of the local bodies last year, it was felt that the party organisation in eight cities — Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Junagadh — needed to be strengthened.
It was also felt, party sources said, that at least a third of 182 candidates should be announced by year end, 12 months ahead of the scheduled elections.
