Poll bytes: Ekmat Gujarat!

By Japan K Pathak

No more Ekmat Gujarat!

In year 2012 assembly elections in Gujarat, the BJP under then Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi had given a slogan of ‘Ekmat Gujarat’. It was a beautiful slogan. It would mean not just ‘one vote to Gujarat’ but more importantly it would mean ‘Gujarat united and one in its opinion/decision’.

Ekmat Gujarat works most of the time in assembly elections. People give clear and nearly 2/3rd majority to party of their choice, irrespective of caste, regions and sections. Ekmat Gujarat works lot of times in the Lok Sabha elections also(in 2014 it worked in its totality), but then there has to be a binding force, there has to be a singular mega wave(natural or other way), there has to be a common cause, suitable to be responded by collective wisdom of voters. When you don’t have these three and a leadership able to successfully execute/propel it, you can’t expect Ekmat Gujarat.

Let me give some sky view. In late 1980s, anti-corruption wave (against Rajiv Gandhi govt in centre) was in flavor, in 1990s Hindutva was the binding factor, in late 1990s stability of government was the agenda, in 2000 dissatisfaction against Keshubhai was a theme, then came 2002 and Hindutva plus pride(under attack) was a binding factor for majority , Gujarat pride and Hindutva then got toppings of growth, Gujarat-the-best-performing-state, leadership, governance and development. Then there was this Sadbhavana fast season, and later the last binding agenda, which was ‘Gujarat’s man in the centre’.

So was that a peak?

Well, yes if you don’t create newer peaks, if you are unable to stretch your present binding agenda, if you don’t innovate in order to give fresh binding agenda, if you fail to give common cause to vote unitedly, if you fail to build a mega wave which is capable to capture the imagination and defeat all kinds of scattered noises………..

There came this rural-urban divide in local poll results.

– DeshGujarat