ANALYSIS. Whither vikas? BJP’s key plank crumbles ahead of Gujarat polls

The BJP, in its strongest fortress of Gujarat, finds itself hoisted by its own petard.

Narendra Modi, both as Gujarat Chief Minister and Prime Minister, came up with the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Support from All, Development for All), and his party was never tired of chanting it. Now, the word vikas seems to be taunting the party in the State.

The heavy downpour of August washed away the BJP’s “Vibrant Gujarat” claims and turned movement on roads and highways, including in the State’s financial capital of Ahmedabad, into a nightmare.

The bumpy roads have become the butt of jokes, prompting the irate victims of civic apathy to question the “Gujarat model” and the “vikasmantra” the BJP has been parroting about for ages.

Apparently, after many a wry tweet and acerbic internet meme, Modi stopped addressing the crowds as ‘ mitron ’. Now, his party is finding ‘ vikas ’ too hot to handle, even as it gears up for the crucial Gujarat Assembly polls scheduled to take place in less than four months.

Over the past week, social media groups have being spewing annoyance over the floods. One such viral message is Aadha rejo, vikas gando thayo chhe (Beware, development has gone crazy).

Such lines, shared across the State, mock the Vijay Rupani government mercilessly.

So angry are people over the poor infrastructure that they tore out the faces of Rupani and Deputy CM Nitin Patel from some posters put up by the BJP at Jasdan in Rajkot district, when President Ram Nath Kovind visited it on Monday to inaugurate an irrigation scheme.

Rupani did camp in the flood-affected areas of north Gujarat in early August to lead the relief efforts from the front. This, at a time when the local Congress MLAs had been flown to a 5-star resort near Bengaluru in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha elections.

The BJP did point this out, but the people have been unforgiving.

The poor state of infrastructure, exposed by the recent rains, and the death of around 350 people due to swine flu and other vector-borne diseases in monsoon this year, have severely impacted the party’s efforts to focus on the impending polls.

Until about a month ago, the Congress appeared in a disarray and the BJP seemed invincible. The dynamics now appear changed.

The Congress has suddenly discovered indirect support from social media warriors expressing anti-incumbency sentiment.

And the BJP, initially confident of bagging 150-plus seats in the 182-strong Vidhan Sabha, suddenly looks vulnerable. It now depends entirely on Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to shore up its fortunes.

Reacting recently to a spate of vikas jokes doing the rounds, Gujarat BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya, while narrating a long list of his party’s achievements, claimed that it is not vikas but vipaksh (Opposition) that has come undone.

The vikas memes were the handiwork of the Congress, he said, adding that people have experienced development over the last 20 years.

On the other hand, Gujarat Congress spokesman Kailash Gadhvi mocked the BJP’s vikas mantra, saying it now stood thoroughly “exposed” before the people.

Meanwhile, the ‘unattached’ Vaghela group of ex-Congress leaders has launched a Jan Vikalpa (People’s Alternative) campaign with hoardings, a website and a membership drive to attract those not supporting either the BJP or the Congress.

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