Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The D-day is finally here that will decide the future course of actions in the Indian politics and clear as to where the Congress will stand in future and how much charisma of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still left. Voting began today for the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections and this election is being regarded as the most important election after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Of the Total 182 seats, 89 assemblies will face the elections today in the south Gujarat and Saurashtra regions,

A total of 977 candidates are in the fray for the first phase and some of the key contestants facing the votings today are Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, contesting from Rajkot (West) against Congress’ Indranil Rajyaguru, Congress’s Shaktisinh Gohil vs BJP’s new face Virendrasinh Jadeja from Mandvi, from Amreli, which is a Patidar dominated seat it is Congress’s sitting MLA Paresh Dhanani vs BJP’s heavyweight Bavkubhai Undhad, BJP’s Babu Bokhiria against Congress’s Arjun Modhwadia from Porbandar.

As per the updates, a total of 2.12 crore voters are registered, of which 1.11 crore are men and 1.01 crore are women.

As the Gujaratis come put in huge numbers to choose their representative for the next five years, the results of these elections have become a test for the many. While it is a prestige point for the BJP who has been ruling the state for 22 years now, it is a litmus test for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, who is soon to be the party president to prove himself through the elections. Also, apart from BJP and Congress, the results will also hold a special impact on the future of the Patidars, the OBC and the Dalits, whose leaders Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mewani, who have extended their support to the Congress.

According to the latest reports, around 9.77 percent voters have turned out until 10 am in the first phase of elections. The voting began at 8 am in the morning on Saturday and will continue until 5 pm. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani appealing to the people to come out in large number and exercise their franchise, confidently said that there is no question of any challenge to the BJP.

Gujarat BJP President Jiyubhai Vaghani also while casting his vote from Bhavnagar said that “We are going to win 150+ seats under the leadership of PM Modi ji, we face no obstacles.” He is also contesting from the Bhavnagar West constituency. Vijay Rupani along with his wife were among the first ones to cast their votes from Rajkot, from where he is contesting against Indranil Rajyaguru.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the national face of BJP and the star campaigner, tweeted in the morning urging the Gujaratis to come out and vote in large numbers. He particularly asked youngsters to exercise their franchise.

While BJP is confident about winning 150+ seats, Congress is also expecting to nail 110 seats. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who was known as the Chanakya of the Congress and is an advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was somewhat behind the scenes during the entire campaigning. He while casting his vote from Bharuch’s Ankleshwar confidently said that “Congress will win more than 110 seats.”

Though the polling is at its peak in the first phase of the elections, there have been reports of multiple faulty EVMs across polling stations. However, the elections commission has claimed that there are no faults in the EVMs and those facing some technical problems have been replaced. “Have replaced two machines and one VVPAT, you cannot really call it a technical error, these are electronic items there can be some issues. Now everything is okay & voting has started,” said Vipul Goti, Master Trainer, Election Commission.

Despite the assurance of the election commission, the Congress is of the opinion that the EVM machines have been rigged using Bluetooth. Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia is up against BJP’s Babu Bokhiria for the third time in Porbandar, has also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission stating EVMs at Porbandar’s Sharda Mandir booth numbers 145, 146 and 147 have been rigged using Bluetooth. The Chief Electoral Officer has ordered the Porbandar Collectors, Observers and Engineer to personally visit the booths, mentioned by  Arjun Modhwadia in his complaint.

According to the reporters, 70 Electronic Voting Machines had malfunctioned in Surat, some of which were later restored. Meanwhile Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani alleged that the Congress party is claiming that there is a fault in the EVMs because they are losing the elections.

The surveys done ahead of the polls predicted that BJP will win the elections but with a lower number of seats as compared to earlier or the numbers claimed by the party as Congress has undoubtedly put up a strong fight against the BJP. While the party and many others were also a little confident that of might finally be able to end its political exile in the state till Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had not made those controversial remarks on Narendra Modi.

Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday had called the Prime Minister of low origin, stating that “Mujhko lagta hai, ki ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka aadmi hai, isme koi sabhyata nahi hai. Aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi rajniti Karne ki kya avashyakta hai? (This shows the low-level mindset of the PM and one bereft of any manners. What is the need of doing such dirty politics on such an occasion).”

As soon as this remark was passed by him, the Congress party asked him to immediately apologise and even suspended him from the party’s membership. But the damage that had to be done was done. Just two days ahead of the polling, such statement coming against the Narendra Modi, obviously gave an upper hand to the party and put the Congress on the back foot. Until now, the Congress was giving a tough competition to the BJP, but after this statement, everyone is of the view that Congress has lost it and all the efforts put in by the party in past 2-3 months have gone down the drain.

What might be the results or whose fate is going to change for the better will only be revealed on 18 Dec when the results to both the first and the second phase of polling will be announced. Though there are a few things, that even BJP knowingly or unknowingly skipped during the campaign and one of the major ones is the manifesto.

The ruling BJP in Gujarat had not released its election manifesto until late night on 88 Dec, just a day ahead of the first phase of the elections. The BJP has gone a step ahead in making this indifference official by delaying declaring its manifesto less than 24 hours before polling for the first phase probably because the party thought that the Modi’s face was enough to lure the voter. The party’s poll manifesto was released after the Opposition party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Ahmed Patel slammed the ruling party for not bringing out its manifesto before the polling.

The BJP manifesto promised overall and inclusive development in the State. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while releasing the manifesto said that “The BJP aims to ensure unity in the State and work towards the welfare of all groups.” Some of the key features of the party’s vision document like building five million dwelling units, bringing fields in Saurashtra under irrigation and providing jobs to youth are mostly repeated from the 2012 manifesto of the party.