LS polls 2014: Vadodara looks to reap benefits from its Narendra Modi connection

VADODARA: He spent five years here as an RSS pracharak, went around on a scooter and dined at homes of his extended parivaar. But the Gujarat constituency Narendra Modi is contesting from feels left out as Ahmedabad and Surat boom. Even Rajkot has left the city behind.

His karmabhoomi as pracharak for five years till 1983 waits to reap the benefits of growth as it gets excited about electing BJP's PM-nominee, whose assembly seat is Maninagar. There are doubts he'll retain Vadodara, if he wins here and in Varanasi. If Modi vacates Vadodara, many feel his trusted man, district incharge Saurabh Patel could step in.

Vilas Shende, 68, who was Vadodara shareerik pramukh when Modi was a vibhag pracharak, remembers how he went around town with Modi on a scooter scouting for recruits, organizing meetings. "When we went out of town, we travelled on buses, trucks, even milk vans," he says.

Bhaskar Thakkur, who works for Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, spent time with Modi in the late 70s. He's still a regular at the old RSS office at Shastri Pol near Kothi and nostalgically shows where Modi slept, worked and held meetings. "Little has changed here. Even the bed on which Modi slept remains in place," he says. Thakkur recalls how Modi woke up at 5.30am and fi rst cleaned the offi ce before going about his routine.

Despite its grouse, the city has a decent bus service, a sports complex, a medical college-hospital and flyovers. But these hardly compare with the infrastructure growth in other Gujarat cities. Between 2001 and 2011, Vadodara's population growth was lower than the three bigger Gujarat cities. GM, ABB, Bombardier, Reliance, GSFC were here before Modi came on the scene.

No big names have been added during Modi's rule. Vadodara should have been Gujarat's auto hub, but Ahmedabad stole the march roping in Tata Motors at Sanand. A handsome lead wasn't the only advantage Modi had in mind while picking Vadodara. Aiming for a 26/26 score, he realized central Gujarat was a pocket of Congress resistance and Modi's candidature from Vadodara would benefit BJP.

But, the parivaar's unity lies in tatters here. BJP's ABVP got drubbed in last year's M S University Students' Union polls to Congress's NSUI. Rahul Gandhi recently asked Youth Congress workers why they can't translate these student union election wins into assembly or parliament victories. The answer's simple: It's easy as long as Modi isn't in the fray. This time, he is. And there is only one way the Vadodara vote is going, even if Modi dumps it in favour of Varanasi.