Divisions in the Sangh Parivar on backing chief minister Narendra Modi and growing dissension in the Congress on the selection of candidates could bring some surprises in the Gujarat Assembly elections next month.
Mr Modi, who was once the darling of the Sangh Parivar, is failing to get its support because of his style of functioning.
According to sources in the Parivar, the state’s Hindu votebank may not remain intact this time in Gujarat, known as the Hindutva laboratory.
Mr Modi, who is keen to become the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, has antagonised a section in the RSS and its offshoots. The Gujarat Parivartan Party led by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel will certainly eat into the BJP’s votes, they said.
The Congress, however, is not in a position to gain political mileage out of it. It has been lacking a face and an organisational network in the state. Its first list of candidates was lacklustre, Gujarat Congress leaders conceded, while a Congress nominee said that “candidates are imposed”.
They even said that the Antony committee recommendations on announcing party candidates well in advance were completely ignored by the central leaders.
The Congress fought the last two Assembly elections (2002 and 2007) on a secular plank. But this time, its strategy seems to build up the campaign on local issues and governance.
Asked whether secularism would be an issue in this election, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi on Thursday said that secularism is part of the Constitution and the Congress has been fighting for it. He said there cannot be two views on secularism in any election, whether it is the Gujarat Assembly polls or the general election, as secularism keeps the nation united.
Mr Alvi said political parties working against secularism also say they are secular but the media knows well which party is secular.