Even the tireless and holiday-shunning Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not devote all days since October 14 to Gujarat.
He could spare only seven of the 17 days till Sunday to participate over video or in person in 12 events related to Gujarat. (See chart)
October 14 is a standout day because that was when the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections were announced. More important, that was the day the Gujarat elections were not announced.
Make no mistake. No illegality has been committed. In fact, some feel the Election Commission is ensuring equity by delaying the Gujarat announcement.
But never to miss a godsend, Prime Minister Modi has been on a spree campaigning directly and indirectly in poll-bound Gujarat, laying foundations, inaugurating development projects and disbursing welfare while playing up his government’s achievements.
Modi has been able to do this without being hamstrung by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) because the norms will kick in only when the election dates are announced.
The Himachal Assembly polls were declared on October 14, with polling on November 12 and counting on December 8. But the Gujarat polls, which were declared simultaneously with the Himachal elections in 1998, 2007 and 2012, are yet to be announced.
For this, the Election Commission has cited precedent from 2017 --- when the announcement of elections in Gujarat was deferred by a fortnight to allow its government to carry on with flood relief - apart from snowfall in Himachal in winter, and the tenure of the Gujarat Assembly that expires 40 days after Himachal’s.
As in 2017, Opposition parties have this year too alleged that the staggered announcement is aimed at favouring the BJP in Modi’s home state, for the declaration of elections brings the model code into immediate effect, freezing government announcements of new welfare or development initiatives.
Congress MP and general secretary Jairam Ramesh had on October 14 itself tweeted: “Obviously this has been done to give more time to the PM to make some mega promises & carry out more inaugurations. Not at all surprising.”
No party has formally complained to the Election Commission about the staggered poll declaration, and the commission has not responded to Ramesh’s tweet.
But a former chief election commissioner contended that if the Gujarat election is held later than that in Himachal, it’s only correct that it should be announced later. Otherwise, Gujarat will have a longer period under the model code than Himachal.
“In multi-phase or multi-state polls, an inherent inequity sets in whereby one state has a longer MCC period than another (because of different polling dates). The EC is trying to bring equity in the MCC period for different states,” he told this newspaper.
The long gap between polling and counting in Himachal suggests that the Gujarat polls may be declared sometime soon so that counting can be done on the same day. Counting for state elections held close to one another is done on the same day to prevent the results in one state affecting voters in another where polling may be due.
At some of the Gujarat events over the past two weeks, Modi has been giving the impression that he has already hit the campaign trail and laying stress on the pronouns “I” and “we”.
On October 19, a defence event in Gujarat, Modi said over video: "When I was chief minister here, I constantly tried to start its (an airbase’s) construction. I repeatedly explained its importance to the then central government. I also gave a lot of land for this purpose but nothing happened for 14 years.
“So many question marks were put on the files that it took time to put things into the right perspective even after I went there (at the Centre). After we formed the government, we decided to make an operational base in Deesa and the expectations of our forces are being met today.”
Launching the Mission Schools of Excellence in Adalaj, Gujarat, the Prime Minister said. “The country has taken a pledge to get rid of the slave mentality in the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence. The new National Education Policy is an attempt to bring the country out of the slave mentality and refine talent and innovation,” he said.
“What was the situation in the country? Knowledge of the English language was taken as a measure of intelligence, whereas language is just a medium of communication…. Efforts are under way to launch courses in several Indian languages as well as in the Gujarati language.”
Modi launched several development projects in Junagadh and tried to harness Gujarati pride against the BJP’s rivals.
“There are some political parties whose political ideology remains incomplete until they abuse and insult Gujarat and the people of Gujarat, brothers and sisters. Does Gujarat need to face up to them or not?” he said.
The Prime Minister did not forget to attack past Congress governments.
“Today, there is proper law and order and peace after the formation of the BJP government. Today every section of society is enjoying freedom from antisocial elements whether it is criminals, mafia, terrorists or the gangs of usurpers,” he said.
“Slogans of ‘gareebi hatao’ (remove poverty) and ‘roti-kapda’ (bread and clothes) became very popular. These slogans were so irresponsible that we would eat half a chapatti, but would ensure so many things. It continued for several decades,” he added.
“But I said these are mere slogans and I have to change your life. We don’t need half a chapatti but proper food. Your life should be such that you are able to feed a hungry person if he comes to your house. These people made palaces for themselves by joining politics, but never cared about houses for the poor.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the Miyawaki Forest at Ekta Nagar (Kevadia) in Narmada district, Gujarat, on Sunday PTI picture
