Wishing India a happy Gujarat: The defining images of the great democratic festival

Endgame 2017? Let the 2019 Games begin? For Gujarat’s 43.3 million voters, they have all been players in the Great Democratic Game this winter. For a state that has seen the same party being voted into power for the last 22 years, one would have reckoned that things may have got ho-hum this time round. One would have reckoned wrong.

This was an election that saw the highs and the lows of politicking, nitpicking and politics; temple visits and temper tantrums; the pulling out of history and the pushing forth of futures. What pundits saw as Patidar disaffection, or Muslim invisibility, or Gujarati asmita (pride) being invoked and then “put to the test”, was really one giant whirligig of arguably India’s most traditional as well as — paradox alert — economically progressive state. In the course of two days, and the weeks preceding them, the 57-year-old state not only went out to choose its own future for the next five years, but it did so well aware that it was providing a template for the rest of India to choose some 18 months from now.

More than hard numbers and harder analyses coming out of the Gujarat 2017 Polls Confetti Machine over the last few weeks, it’s the colour and the noise — the sound and the fury included— that signified everything. Tomorrow, as this great festival reaches its climax — and end — the rest of India can join the after-party.

Flower Power: Shravan Sah from Bihar campaigning for the BJP in Kalol

Cutty Patang: Kite-maker Salimbhai Patangwala’s creation with the slogan that roughly translates to: ‘Let’s see who’s got it in him’

Flagging Off: A Congress supporter waves the party flag during the visit of Rahul Gandhi at Nani Devti village, near Ahmedabad on November 24

Throbbing Temples: Rahul Gandhi offering prayers at the Shri Jagannathji Temple in Ahmedabad on December 12

3D VISION: Life size cut-outs of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah after an election rally at Surendranagar on December 3

The Eagle Has Floated: Narendra Modi lands on a seaplane on the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad on December 12

Neat & Clean: Dalit Shakti Kendra members clean a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar at Nani Devti village near Ahmedabad

Yeh Congress Haath Le Lo: Congress worker Umair Sheikh as Sholay villain Gabbar Singh at an anti-GST rally in Surat on November 28. Rahul Gandhi called GST a ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’

Hair Today, Vote Tomorrow: A woman with the image of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) painted on her hair at a beauty parlour in Ahmedabad on December 7

Standing Up To Be Counted: Patidar leader Hardik Patel during a road show before the second phase of elections in Ahmedabad on December 11

Kem Cho, Jignesh: Independent candidate Jignesh Mevani greets people during election campaign in Vadgam on December 10

Ageless Asmita: An elderly voter being helped by security men at a polling booth in Surat on December 9

More Than Just A One-Trick Pony: Renuka Soni, candidate of the Jan Vikalp Party from the Sabarmati assembly constituency, campaigns on a horse in Ahmedabad on December 6