Since 1995, BJP has been the incumbent party in Gujarat. Over 22 years of unchallenged leadership has made Gujarat elections a matter of prestige for the Hindutva leadership. Anything less than a substantial victory in the upcoming 2017 elections in Gujarat might reflect on the outcome of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The saffron camp is setting the stage for the upcoming electoral challenge. Last weekend, “Welcome to Hindu Rashtra” boards were spotted in various localities in Ahmedabad including Krishna nagar, Meghaninagar, Shahibaug and Anupam cinema areas of Ahmedabad. The boards have been put up by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal with names and contact numbers of organisers.
This affiche in Gujarati translates to:
Welcome to Meghaninagar locality,
Of Naroda district,
Of Karnavati metropolitan city,
Of the Hindu Rashtra.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Secretary: Vasantbhai Patel
M: 9898703892
Bajarang Dal
Organiser: Mukeshbhai Patel
M: 9638028655
Ahmedabad has been mentioned as “Karnavati”.Similar boards with just the name of the locality changed to Krishnagar and Shahibaug were also found in the respective areas.
Karnavati instead of Ahmedabad is to become one of the token political agendas for the BJP campaign in Gujarat. The city was originally named Ahmedabad by King Ahmad Shah I, in honour of four Ahmads, himself, his religious teacher Shaikh Ahmad Khattu, and two others, Kazi Ahmad and Malik Ahmad.
At the outset, BJP is yet to find a neo-political face similar to the hardliner in Uttar Pradesh to lead the forthcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. The BJP president in Gujarat Jitu Vaghani has confirmed that Adityanath had PM Modi will be the figures of the state election campaign.