 "What does Anandiben Patel's exit mean for opposition parties in Gujarat?")
Political observers feel while there is a strong wave of anti-incumbency in the state after around 20 years of BJP rule, it is doubtful whether the Opposition will be able to encash on the opportunity. "If the BJP puts up a fresh face, someone dynamic and one who can patch up the differences amongst the communities (read Patidar and Dalits), the tide might just turn in their favour. A young, non-controversial leader might just do the trick for them," felt sociologist Vidyut Joshi.
Former Gujarat Congress president and senior leader Arjun Modhwadia obviously felt otherwise. "Replacing Anandiben Patel won't make any difference to BJP's fortunes in the upcoming elections. They are in power for more than 20 years now and are completely corrupt and arrogant. The arrogance has percolated deep among the party workers, and the general attitude in the public is that of a revolt against the ruling BJP," Modhwadia claimed.
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Kejriwal-led AAP, which is yet to win a seat in Gujarat in any of the past elections, sounded confident too. National spokesperson for AAP, Ashutosh who was in Ahmedabad to get sense of the political mood in the state said, "Anti-incumbency is high and people know that what is happening wrong in the state by the BJP. This will make us the first option in the state. We are competing with BJP and Congress is nowhere in the competition, not now and not in election too."
It is ironical that despite tasting success in the last local body elections in Gujarat which saw the BJP suffering its worst loss in a decade, most political observers are skeptical about the Congress being able to recover lost ground. Congress had wrested 23 out of 31 district panchayats and 113 of 193 taluka panchayats. There was, however, a clear divide in the urban and rural votes; the BJP faring much better in cities and towns. It continued to hold on to nagarpalikas, or town councils, winning 42 of 56 municipalities.
Modhwadia, however, claimed that the urban voter is a more enlightened voter, and this time around, given the environment of anger against corruption, the urban votes would come to Congress.
Corruption is going to be the key election plank for both the Congress and the AAP. On Monday, AAP chief and chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the BJP is scared of AAP's growing popularity in Gujarat, which is why it accepted Anandiben's offer to resign. "Anandiben's resignation is a victory of AAP's campaign against corruption in Gujarat," he had shared on the micro-blogging site.
His party, however, did not wish to reveal the election strategy yet, but said that it would continue to focus on ground level activities. AAP has over 100,000 members in Gujarat and targets to enroll 500,000 members in the state.
Echoing Kejriwal's sentiments, Ashutosh too said here on Tuesday, “The way Aam Adami Party is gaining popularity, BJP is scared and that’s why the party has accepted Anandiben Patel’s resignation. BJP has removed one puppet and will place new one. It’s all done by the master mind. Nothing will change until master mind is changed.”
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too called Patel a 'scapegoat'. In his tweet, Gandhi blamed the PM Modi by saying;"13 years of Modi rule, not 2 years of Anandiben are responsible for Gujarat burning. Sacrificing the scapegoat won't save the BJP."
Sources in the state political circles too shared that a senior leader from the party high command had visited Anandiben about a week back,and that she was forced to tender her resignation.
Joshi explained that at the time when Anandiben was chosen as Modi's successor in Gujarat in 2014, there was a lot of noise in the party. "She had an edge as she was known to be an able administrator, but she could not keep the flock together," he said.
Modhwadia too felt that Modi's exit has created a political vacuum in the Gujarat BJP which is yet to be filled. The Opposition is thus whetting its tools to make the most of this 'vacuum'.