Ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now at the peak of its campaigning and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, one of the party's star campaigners has so far addressed three rallies in the State - including the industrial town of Surat.
While he urged party workers to ensure a massive victory for the party, he also put forward to them three very simple but achievable targets.
Elaborating on the same the Assam Chief Minister told ANI, "We need to ensure that there is a win for BJP in Gujarat and that too a massive one because Gujarat has always led the way for the country."
So how and why is the Gujarat win in 2022 assembly elections important for the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections?
"The Gujarat elections will have a massive impact on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This election result will create an ecosystem, which is very very critical for the general election and thereby vital for us to ensure Narendra Modi returns as the nation's Prime Minister for the third time in a row. It is important for the electorate of Gujarat to vote in huge numbers for BJP," the Assam CM said.
During campaigning in Gujarat on Thursday, the Assam CM, who is known to be a fiery orator has been in big demand for campaigning by candidates.
Dismissing contestants in the opposition like the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress party, Mr. Sarma hit out at Rahul Gandhi for missing out on campaign in poll-bound states.
"There is a weird pattern that I have seen in recent that Rahul Gandhi does not campaign for his party. If there is a cricket match in Guwahati you will find Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat. He will be padded and sitting with a bat but will not come on the ground and play," Himanta said taking a jibe at the Gandhi scion.
BJP will top the winning list and the other parties will only be vying for the second and third spot, said Sarma.
"The BJP will be the top party in the state it is a battle between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party for the second and third spot. They are no contest to us."
After a day of three rallies in the State, the Assam Chief Minister is expected to return to Gujarat for another leg of campaigning on November 22.
In the 2017 Gujarat polls, the BJP was halted at 99 seats out of a total 182 seats. The party has been in power for the last 27 years with Narendra Modi being the longest-serving Chief Minister of the State. This time, the party under the leadership of PM Modi, Amit Shah and CR Paatil is aiming at getting its highest seat tally exceeding 140.
The State has been a BJP stronghold for a long and the party has set its sights on returning to power for the seventh term. The State of Gujarat which has 182 assembly constituencies will go for polling in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh's result date.
Published - November 19, 2022 12:31 pm IST
