Netas trade taunts as Phase-1 campaigning for Gujarat polls ends

On the last day of campaigning for the first phase covering 89 seats in Saurashtra and South Gujarat, the three main parties left no stone unturned to woo the voters.

Ruling BJP deployed 11 star campaigners, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann held several roadshows for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). For the Congress, national president Mallikarjun Kharge held a public meeting at Ahmedabad on Monday evening.

The campaigning was intense, sometimes bordering on the vicious and on rare occasions grace and decency were also witnessed.


Graceful Moments
On Tuesday, former leader of the Opposition Paresh Dhanani walked into the BJP office to greet leaders and seek their blessings. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Parshottam Solanki went to hospital to meet Bhavnagar (rural) Congress candidate Revatsinh Gohil who suffered a heart attack.

The AAP Factor
The 2022 Gujarat elections is interesting because of the presence of AAP. What has made the campaign more complex for comprehension is the intriguingly low-key campaign by the Congress.

On the ground, the discourse oscillated between price rise, unemployment and development, thanks to the focussed campaign by AAP. AAP national coordinator Arvind Kejriwal had made as many as 52 appearances in Gujarat between April 2 and November 8. He held several town hall meetings across the states issuing "guarantee cards" promising free electricity, employment, corruption free governance et al.

Modi, shah and Gujarat
The year saw numerous visits by the prime minister with many development projects being inaugurated between November 6 and 26. Modi held as many as 25 public meetings.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that Rahul Gandhi used to warn people against taking the Covid-19 vaccine terming it 'Modi vaccine', but later got vaccinated himself secretly.

The Shifting Narrative
While BJP's campaign started with the celebration of the Gujarat model of development, it soon included the Narmada factor. Ther BJP soon brought in the issues of national security and Ram Mandir.

Cong's Silent Campaign
It is the rather silent campaign of the Congress that has left everyone talking. While Rahul Gandhi held only two public meetings since the declaration of polls, Kharge too held only two major meetings. The Congress national president in his Ahmedabad address compared the prime minister with Ravan.