KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE
Friday, 21 March 2014 | Nayan Dave | GANDHINAGAR
It is likely to have a great impact on three Gujarat LS seats
The candidature of Narendra Modi from Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency is a kind of ‘master stroke’ for the saffron brigade to achieve the target of winning all 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat.
The move is like killing two birds with one stone — it is not only a cakewalk for Modi but his nomination is likely to have a great impact on three adjoining parliamentary constituencies in central Gujarat, Anand, Kheda and Dahod — all are currently with the Congress. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Bharatsinh Solanki, Dinsha Patel and Dr Prabha Taviyad won convincingly from these constituencies.
Knowing the importance of their victory, the Congress high command too appreciated them as Solanki and Patel were given berth in Manmohan Cabinet. Dr Taviyad despite being first time MP was elevated by All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi as AICC secretary in January this year.
A senior BJP leader in Gujarat said that Vadodara, known as cultural capital of Gujarat, is a ‘home away from home’ for Narendra Modi. The Gujarat Chief Minister has great affection for his ‘Karmabhoomi’ as RSS Pracharak. “He resided in the city for seven years and worked as Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) before he joined active politics in 1987. Modi was ‘Pracharak’ for Vadodara Vibhag from 1980 to 1986,” confirmed a veteran RSS worker in Gujarat.
Interestingly, Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency has remained BJP’s forte. Since 1991, the BJP has won five out of six parliamentary elections. The only defeat came from the constituency in 1996 that too with the thinnest margin of 17 votes. That year, BJP’s candidate Jitendra Sukhadia lost against the Congress candidate Satyajitsinh Gaekwad. “It was because of this infighting that led to Shubhangini Raje Gaekwad, who is from Vadodara royal family, entering the fray as an Independent candidate. Eventually, Sukhadia suffered defeat,” said a local BJP leader.
Besides, all seven Assembly segments, under Vadodara LS constituency are with the saffron party. Moreover, in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, BJP is the ruling party. Former Vadodara mayor Balkrishna Shukla was fielded in 2009 and he won with huge margin of 1.36 lakh votes against the Congress candidate Satyajitsinh Gaekwad. “The margin was the highest in the State, even higher than then NDA’s PM candidate LK Advani,” he informed adding that unlike majority of constituencies in the State, Vadodara is having nearly 80 per cent urban voters. Of 15.90 lakh voters in the constituency, 11.88 are from urban areas.
Narendra Vs Narendra
Even before BJP announced the Gujarat Chief Minister’s name for Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress had declared its candidate Narendra Rawat for the seat. With no other major parties in the fray, the fight is between two Narendras — Modi vs Rawat. The 43-year-old Congress candidate is not having as colourful political background as his rival. Rawat is Vadodara city president of the Congress party. He started his career as student leader and was active in National Students Union of India (NSUI) and later on in youth Congress.
BJP cadre for ‘V4’
With Narendra Modi is all set to contest from Gujarat, BJP cadre in the State are in an upbeat mood. Now the new equation that has become popular among the BJP workers is ‘V4’ - Vadnagar (Modi’s hometown) + Varanasi + Vadodara = ‘Victory’ all four words starts from letter ‘V’.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/killing-two-birds-with-one-stone.html
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