JOIN USHigh stake bypolls in Gujarat to eight Assembly seats
Voting for bypolls to eight Assembly seats in Gujarat will be held on Tuesday in which 81 candidates are in fray, whose fate will be decided by 18.75 lakh voters.
The opposition party, Congress ended its campaign by making two video clips public which allegedly showed an ex-legislator from the party saying that he and a few other MLAs took Rs 10 crore from BJP in orde to resign. He named Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state president C R Paatil and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his allegations.
Hours after the clips of a "sting operation" were released by state Congress president Amit Chavda in a press conference, his BJP counterpart Paatil also held a press conference denying the charges categorically. He said his name was not mentioned by Somabhai Patel anywhere in the video.
The bypolls were necessitated after eight Congress MLAs resigned. This makes this election significant as five of them are now BJP candidates. The Congress, which has suffered 10 such defections in the last one year, has raised the pitch in its appeal to voters to reject such candidates.
The result of this poll is not going to change the government in the state but is important in many ways. Political observers say that the outcome will show if voters really care about the leaders who change sides for money or power.
Secondly, it is going to make or break Congress, out of power in the state for over two decades. Victory in a majority of the seats will be good news for the leadership ahead of upcoming crucial civic body polls which can build the momentum for the 2022 Assembly polls.
"In the last Assembly polls (2017), Congress lost in the end, but it fetched 77 seats and reduced the BJP to 99 in a house of 182 Assembly seats. It was the highest number of seats Congress won in last four polls. The result showed that Congress could turn the tables if it fights as a team. If it loses badly in the bypolls, the party will suffer a major setback," said a Congress leader.
The outcome can also be decisive for 27-year-old Patidar leader Hardik Patel appointed by Congress as state working president, a decision unpopular among party workers and senior leaders. A big win may increase his acceptance in the party, while a setback could prove costly for him.
Similarly, the result will establish state BJP president C R Paatil, who is considered an experienced strategist, as a leader outside his parliamentary constituency of Navsari in south Gujarat. Paatil was appointed state president only in July this year.
"The BJP workers are circulating a video of Modi inaugurating a series of facilities for tourists at Kevadia, the seat of Statue of Unity, and the launch of Seaplane service as part of its poll campaign to woo voters. It hardly has anything local to offer," said a source in BJP.