Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's 115-seat win in assembly elections proves that his charm and politics of development has worked well in snatching away votes from the Congress party. The emergency of the third front was deemed redundant as the Keshubhai Patel led Gujarat Partivartan Party (GPP) was not able to cut ice with the people. Also, the Patel factor raised by the GPP did not get any response from the people who had come out in historic numbers to vote during the two phased elections. GPP could only win two seats.
Though, the caste factor seemed to have worked in the Saurashtra region, it did not work in the more urban centres where Modi's development oriented election propaganda has found many takers. Experts believe that tribals in south and north Gujarat voted for the BJP because of the infrastructure facilities developed in their regions over the past decade. Further the lack of leadership, coordination in the opposition Congress and absence of election issues gave Modi an additional advantage.
The negative propaganda strategy applied by the Congress and its top leaders, where they had rued about the lack of development in the state, especially for the poor, back fired.
Political analyst Ghanshyam Shah said that BJP's victory in the polls means that Modi's notion of development has worked out well. "Modi's charm and development politics has paid off which has resulted in him getting votes from the middle class," said Shah, former professor with the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
About what went wrong with the Congress Shah opined, "The Congress had no alternative for the development theory of Modi. Nor did they have any strategy to prove Modi's credentials wrong."
Also the third front failed to fire as it lacked organization and could not fight the modern election on individual basis, Shah said, adding that Keshubhai's old age was also a major factor who the GPP failed in this elections.
Another analyst and political observer Ashok Shrimali said that Congress's lack of leadership was a major factor behind their defeat. "They were not able to judge the undercurrent."
According to Sebastian Morris, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), "The middle class in Gujarat always wanted somebody to be in charge and they have continued to make sure it stays that way. What might have also worked in favour of the ruling party is that it made some interesting promises in the manifesto such as houses which is major need among peoples, girl child education and public health. However, these promises are equally challenging and we will have to see how each of them are fulfilled." Morris further opined that,"The question was not whether BJP would win but the difference by which it would. However, there are two types of changes seen during this elections. Firstly, there seems to be a positive change in favour of Congress wherein they have seen a marginal increase in number of seats so far. Secondly, both Congress and BJP seem to have increased their percentage of votes which shows an increase in strategic voting in Gujarat keeping national level issues in mind."Former member of the planning Commission Y K Alagh added that, "As we were moving into the last phase, the ruling party highlighted number of issues which were not done in the beginning like nutrition commission for women, infrastructure for smaller towns, educational infrastructure, and medical facilities, among others."
On caste politics Alagh said, "This may not have worked because this is a diverse state. Hence, the acceptance by major political parties of the diversity of Gujarat has worked in their favour.”
