It's not just Modi, says a confident BJP

BATTLEFIELD GUJARAT

A day after the ballot boxes for Gujarat were sealed only to be reopened on December 23, the BJP appeared confident of its victory.

Senior office bearers of the party insisted that it was not just the charisma of Chief Minister Narendra Modi which they were counting on to take them into government.

"The high percentage of polling in urban areas is a development in our favour, as is the fact that now nearly 60 per cent of Gujarat comes under urban areas," said a senior strategist of the party.

The numbers cited by the party bear out this sentiment. Almost 38 per cent of Gujarat's population is covered by Municipal Corporations and another 20 by municipal committees.

Even in rural areas, three-phase electricity, according to the BJP, has seen the development of the small scale industry and the shifting of small units of diamond polishing and other businesses to rural areas.

"In northern Gujarat, where the Narmada canal has reached, previously single-crop areas have become three-crop areas, and has seen farm income treble from Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 34,000 crore," said the office bearer.

"Traditionally, it has been seen that the weakest sections of society go with the Congress, but those who have tasted and benefited from development vote for the BJP in the state," added the office bearer.

"These elections will also prove that elections can be won on developmental issues. It is only in the BIMARU states that development is ignored. Any reasonably developed state has been voting on governance and development and Gujarat is dedicated to business. We expect the investments made during the Modi government will pay up," he added.

The party feels a strong showing in northern Gujarat will off-set any losses in Saurashtra even as the party said that not all Leuwa Patels had gone against the BJP.

The party pegs 100 seats as the bare minimum it will get in the polls. "We do not want to put an upper limit," added party leaders.