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Gujarat Elections:

Advani is the man to watch 

Monday April 13, 2009,  Abdul Hafiz Lakhani

 

 
 
 
 

 

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Ahmedabad: All eyes are on Gandhinagar---the seat of Hindu mascot L.K. Advani who is facing Congress candidate Mr. Suresh patel and high profile independent Mallika sarabhai for Delhi darbar.


Gujarat State capital Gandhinagar is also known as the green capital, with the number of trees perhaps exceeding the voters.


Housing the secretariat and the official residence of members of the cabinet, a sizeable chunk of Ahmedabad city and Sanand — where the Tatas are relocating their Nano manufacturing plant — now comes under the new limits of Gandhinagar constituency.


No matter what are the constituency’s contours, pre or post delimitation, it remains identified as L K Advani’s seat, which he has won with handsome, comfortable margins ever since he contested from 1991 onwards.


Though it has a sprinkling of rural areas, it is one constituency, which can boast of areas which are well-planned and have relatively better civic amenities. Now, with the coming of the Nano plant, areas like Sanand are also expected to receive a fillip in infrastructure work, as both ancillary units and real estate prices are expected to shoot up.
 

The issues
When a prime-ministerial candidate fights election from a constituency, the local issues pale in the background. For Gandhinagar, the fight is notional, or as independent candidate Mallika Sarabhai makes it, more on moral grounds. For Advani, nurturing the constituency has not been difficult, as it comprises the better parts of Ahmedabad city, the state capital and the rural mix.

Rural Gandhinagar, like other parts, can have complaints of occasional power cut, or of development that has not taken places in smaller pockets. But the presence of the BJP and Advani together loom large here. For areas like Sanand, where villages in peripheral areas are coming under the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, it means promises of more amenities.


Advani, in a bid to make a youthful posturing, had just before the announcement of the polls in the city area, gone on an inauguration spree, notably of gymnasium, jogging park, swimming pools in various areas of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as well.


For the BJP workers, it is not just about ensuring Advani the maximum votes, but to have the satisfaction of having a possible PM from the constituency. For the opponents, the satisfaction is to try being a credible opposition. The voters believe that Advani’s continued presence ensures that the development continues, in some or the other measure.


The candidates
Election result is a foregone conclusion in this constituency, what with the congress having to struggle each time to put up a semblance of fight against Advani, who is the BJP’s PM candidate this time. Advani continued to breeze through the constituency taking on retired DGP P K Datta to former Election Commissioner T N Seshan.


The debut of danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, who takes on Advani, supported by civil rights group this time, has only perked up the election scenario.


Sarabhai not only falls back upon her family’s legacy and association with Ahmedabad, but also in her own right as an activist–artist. She intends to take on Advani on “moral grounds”. First Sarabhai, and then the Congress in turn have dared Advani to a public debate after the latter dared PM Manmohan Singh to a US-style presidential debate.


Congress candidate Suresh Patel, the sitting Kalol MLA, remains a staid candidate in comparison, alike the 2004 Congress candidate Gabhaji Thakor..


To give credit to Team Advani, the victory margin has remained more than one and a half lakh votes consistently for the last three terms. This time, the Advani mask has also debuted along with the Modi masks. The Congress candidate has a semblance of network and supporters to take on electioneering, but for Sarabhai, it is public donations, Facebook campaigns and endorsements from known faces like Salman Rushdie that is helping her in the campaign process.


This is one constituency, where the only counting that matters, besides moral posturing, are the nuanced changes in the margins of victory.

The atmosphere is politically now charged in Gujarat-- the laboratory pf Hindutva as Gujarat holds much importance both for the Congress and BJP. The Congress, which targeted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged communal profile, is aware of the fact that its need to do something else to stop the BJP onslaught in the state. Modi has extended his control to the Congress bastions, which is worrying the Congress at this moment. Out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress is looking forward to win at least 12-13 this time, while BJP wants to win 20.

During the 2004 general elections, the Congress did very well by winning 12 out of 26 seats, even though the wave was in favour of Narendra Modi and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP had to be content with 14 seats.

After the spectacular win in Gujarat Assembly last year, the BJP is on a new high. All Modi baiters were sidelined and new cadres are contesting from most of the seats in Gujarat. On the contrary, the Congress has been unable to find a leader, who can lead them to victory.

There will be no surprise, if BJP manages to sweep Gujarat and win 20-21 Lok Sabha seats this time. However, the Congress is ready to give it a run for its money with the help of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and youth icon Rahul Gandhi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sare Jahan Se Accha

Hindustan Hamara

In 1905 more than 100 years from today, when Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College, Lahore he was invited by his student Lala Hardayal to preside over a function. Instead of making a speech, Iqbal sang Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara in his style. Iqbal compiled this poem in praise of India and the poem preaches the communal harmony that had unfortunately started ceasing in India by that time. Each and every word in this poem depicts an Indian’s respect and love for the motherland and the values the Indian society inherited for long...Read Full

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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