Despite UP debacle, Congress upbeat about Gujarat. PK may handle campaign

After its emphatic electoral triumphs in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, BJP is planning to advance Assembly elections in Gujarat. The idea is to ride on the Narendra Modi wave. The tenure of the incumbent government ends in December 2017 and sources say that it is likely that the saffron party could dissolve the Assembly six months earlier in its bid to retain the state for the fifth consecutive term.

However, Congress said that these are signs of desperation and BJP is not confident of winning the state despite the “so-called Modi wave”. They pointed that if it was so easy why would the BJP want to advance the polls. Ecstatic with its “advanced election preparations”, Congress leaders say that they are ready to take on the ruling party that no longer has Modi as its chief ministerial face.

“We started the process of candidate selection from today. Earlier, the names were announced right at the last minute but this time around we should have the final list in the next two months. So, even if the polls are announced early, we are prepared for it,” said Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.

In fact, Gujarat's General Secretary in-charge Gurudas Kamat held a meeting of senior party leaders and around 1500 aspiring candidates in Ahmedabad to apprise them about the party's strategy in the run up to the assembly elections. Earlier, Kamat had hinted at finalising the list of candidates way before the elections to ensure they get enough time to mobilise support in party's favour.

During the course of the meeting, the participants were also informed about the issues that should be raised to corner the BJP. Modhwadia said that issues like Minimum Support Price for farmers, unemployment, law and order, atrocities on Dalits and Patidars, corruption, compensation for farmers whose lands have been acquired by private players, among others, would feature prominently in their campaign strategy.

In order to boost its campaign strategy, party leadership is also pitching for poll strategist Prashant Kishor to be brought in to repeat his performance in Punjab. “He knows Gujarat way too well since he had earlier created the campaign strategy of Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister. His inputs should further bolster our efforts in ending BJP's long run in the state,” claimed another senior leader from the state.

Another Congress heavyweight and a possible chief ministerial candidate Shankersinh Vaghela too has recommended hiring services of the poll strategist who he said was key to BJP winning elections on 2012 and 2014.

If Kishor is roped in, he is likely to ask that the party declares its chief ministerial candidate before the polls since he is more comfortable in building campaigns around regional satraps as witnessed in Punjab. However, the same experiment failed in Uttarakhand where Harish Rawat was made the face of the party.