AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is in Gujarat to campaign for the Assembly polls early next year. Kejriwal is trying to fill in the vacuum created by the depletion of the Congress party as a viable opposition. He isn’t only doing that: he is also trying to beat the BJP at its Hindutva game by plying a Hindutva lite version of the ideology. And in the AAP leader’s attempt to do so, he has even shocked the BJP by demanding that images of Hindu deities Lakshmi and Ganesh be printed on currency notes for the economy to do well. He has now also sought a uniform civil code – one of the BJP’s core electoral planks – and sought its nationwide implementation. Last month he emerged from the Somnath temple with a tripund on his forehead and rudraksha around his wrists. Earlier, he has also chanted the Hanuman Chalisa and flagged off pilgrim trains to the temple town of Ayodhya. And so far this politics has paid off for him in Delhi and subsequently in Punjab.
Will AAP be able to position itself as a credible political alternative in what is an all-important state for the BJP? Only time will tell. But Gujarat is not just any other state. It is from here that the phenomenon of prime minister Narendra Modi began. Competition is getting tougher with Congress also in the process of rejuvenating itself by hitting the road. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is currently undertaking a padyatra to reconnect Congress with the people. The public response has so far been good. And the participation of people is growing with every passing day. It remains to be seen whether this public outreach could translate into any electoral gains for the party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
However, with its recent landslide victory in Punjab, the AAP is on a roll. It hopes to replicate the performance in Gujarat. Kejriwal has shown political skills to get his party up and running out of nowhere. He could very well do so in Gujarat by peddling the Hindutva card. But it is also true that prime minister Narendra Modi’s charisma is still fresh and abiding and that too in his home state where his remarkable journey began. So, it would be next to impossible to dislodge him in Gujarat. With every passing year, his political appeal and constituency have grown stronger and wider while that of Congress has correspondingly shrunk. But there are still two years to go before the general elections are held, and much can change during this time. Two years is a long time in politics. The outcome of the polls in Gujarat and Himachal could very well set the stage for 2024. More so, the one in Gujarat.
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