Assembly elections: Narendra Modi back in campaign mode in Gujarat

The Prime Minister wore a party cap and stood in an open-top car as his motorcade headed from Ahmedabad airport to the state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar

Modi flashes the victory sign during the road show in Ahmedabad on Friday.: PTI Photo

TT Special Correspondent   |  New Delhi   |   12.03.22 : Uttar Pradesh won, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was back in election mode the day after.

Modi on Friday arrived in his home state of Gujarat and held a road show in Ahmedabad, appearing to kick off the campaign for the yearend polls a day after the BJP’s emphatic victory in four states.

Assembly elections are due in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh at the end of this year.

Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, wore a party cap and stood in an open-top car as his motorcade headed from Ahmedabad airport to the state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar.

Chief minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP chief C.R. Paatil flanked Modi as he waved to the crowds. Later in the day, Modi addressed a gathering of elected panchayat representatives.

BJP supporters attend Modi’s road show in Ahmedabad.: PTI Photo

The visit underlines the current BJP leadership’s penchant for remaining in poll mode, which has led to Opposition complaints that the Prime Minister spends an inordinate amount of time campaigning, away from Delhi.

The BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1995. Modi, who ruled the state from 2001 to 2014, had piggybacked the “Gujarat Model of development” to emerge as prime ministerial candidate and then win the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Despite the BJP’s continued dominance in Gujarat, the Congress continues to be a strong force in the state. In the last Assembly elections, with Modi leading the campaign as usual, the BJP had to fight to retain the state, winning just 99 seats to the Congress’s 77 in the House of 182.

In a state used to bipolar BJP vs Congress contests, the Aam Aadmi Party, buoyed by its stunning victory in Punjab, is expected to make the election triangular.

Modi’s sounding of the poll bugle so early in the state suggests he expects a tough challenge this time, and wants to use the victories in Uttar Pradesh and three other states to give his party the initial momentum.

The BJP had replaced Vijay Rupani as chief minister last year with Patel, a new face. The change was meant to allay popular anger at the Covid mismanagement during the second wave. Gujarat was one of the worst-affected states.