New Delhi: The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the political landscape of Gujarat seems to have changed many equations in the state.
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While AAP convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is on a campaign blitz for the upcoming assembly elections, the Congress is yet to even start its canvassing.
Gujarat has till now, been a bipolar state with the contest mainly between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The AAP’s entry is going to change this time.
As of now, the main fight appears to be between the BJP and the AAP and the Congress is at a distant third. This has upset the BJP’s calculations to a certain extent.
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Kejriwal’s frequent tours of Gujarat have helped the AAP to get good traction among the people and the media.
The AAP is widely believed to cut into the BJP votes in urban centres while the Congress has pockets of influence in rural areas.
This has set off alarm bells in the BJP, prompting the state leadership to look up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is expected to campaign extensively in his home state.
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For the BJP to retain power, it is essential that the anti-incumbency vote gets divided among the Congress and the AAP.
Hence, a tactful nudge from the BJP to the Congress to get going is understandable.
Addressing a rally Jan Vishwas Sammelan on Monday at Vallabh Vidyanagar in Anand district, a Congress bastion, Modi asked the BJP cadre to be alert against the grand old party.
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“It seems the Congress is inactive but it is quietly going to villages and towns and convincing people to vote against BJP. This time Congress is playing a new chal (trick). Don't remain under the impression that they are silent. Their moves are not reported in the media. They are also not highlighting it but they are doing 'khatla (cot) baithak (meetings) in the village after village. And, therefore, we need to remain alert even if they aren't carrying out rallies, sabhas or press conferences,” Modi said.
The remarks came as a surprise to many. Kejriwal promptly latched on to it, wondering if the Prime Minister was campaigning for the Congress. “Is the Prime Minister campaigning for Congress in Gujarat?” he tweeted.
Modi’s remarks are set to escalate the ongoing bitter feud between the AAP and the BJP. The two parties recently slugged it out over a 2019 video clip of Gujarat AAP chief Gopal Italia in which he is purportedly heard calling Modi a ‘neech aadmi (a lowly person)’.
In the undated clip, he rebukes Modi for enacting a drama to attract votes and then calls him a ‘neech aadmi’. Italia also allegedly used a half-abusive term to claim the Prime Minister was making a fool of voters.
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“Elections are going on. Has any Prime Minister in the past taken out a roadshow and put up an act before casting his or her vote? The 'neech' person is doing a roadshow here and showing how he can take the whole country for a ride," Italia can be heard saying in the video clip.
The BJP was quick to hit back. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that the AAP will face the same fate as the Congress did after its leader Mani Shankar Aiyar used the same term for Modi. “Prime Minister Modi hails from Gujarat and using such remarks against him is an insult to Gujaratis too,” he said.
The slugfest is likely to intensify as the elections approach. The Election Commission is set to announce the dates of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh soon.
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