We cannot deny the possibility that he may want his confidante back by his side. Afterall, he is yet to be rewarded for his hardwork for the party!
Among the many things that happened on Thursday from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hectic schedule was his vacating the seat of Vadodara in his home state Gujarat. Modi had contested from two seats in the Lok Sabha elections, one being Vadodara and another Varanasi.
Although he had won the Vadodara seat from a historic margin of over 5.7 lakh votes, he has chosen to retain the Varanasi seat where he had won by a margin of 3.7 lakh votes to serve Ganga Maa.
He tweeted:
Resigned from Vadodara LS seat. Due to people’s affection got elected by historic margin. Will always remain grateful to people of Vadodara.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 29, 2014
I assure people of Vadodara I will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Vadodara’s development scales newer heights in the years to come
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 29, 2014
I will represent Varanasi in Lok Sabha & I look forward to this wonderful opportunity to serve Ganga Maa & work for Varanasi’s development.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 29, 2014
While there is no doubt that serving Ganga Maa or not, Modi has retained the seat for the simple reason that the assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 which will prove deciding for his government and party too. The BJP had recorded a historic win the state in Lok Sabha elections winning 71 out of 80 seats.
The ruling Samajwadi party was decimated to five seats in which Mulayam Singh Yadav two seats were included. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party did not even manage to open its account. So retaining Varanasi will send a strong signal and keep the popular faith in him alive.
But the question that arises in present context is who will now fill in his shoes in Vadodara?
The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are trying hard to make it work this time in Vadodara bypolls. An Indian Express report thus says: The announcement of Modi’s resignation has brought back some action with Vadodara Congress President Narendra Ravat gearing up to prepare the party’s campaign strategy. Incidentally, Ravat is tipped to be the party’s contestant since he was originally the winner of Vadodara primaries.
Former MP Satyajit Gaekwad, who tried his luck to get a Congress ticket in Dhule-Malegaon, is now back in Vadodara and hoping to get a second run.
Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry, who lost the contest from Vadodara to Modi, will be meeting party members on May 31 to finalise the candidate.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been lying low throughout the election campaign, has also said it would contest the by-polls. Party convenor Paresh Patel says, “Of course, we will contest the bypolls, but with a new candidate.”
The Economic Times and Deccan Herald report that Modi’s confident Amit Shah, whose hard work and strategy helped BJP script history in Lok Sabha, may be part’s choice for contesting from the seat in bypolls.
The Deccan Herald reports: While the name of Modi’s confidant and architect of BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha Amit Shah is doing the rounds, the Vadodara local unit of the BJP feels it could also be someone from the royal Gaekwad family as they still command respect amongst the people of Baroda.
The late Ranjitsinh Gaekwad had contested and won the elections on a Congress ticket in 1980. But later he switched over to the BJP and campaigned for their MP. His wife Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad too contested on a BJP ticket from Kheda and had lost to Congress’ former union minister Dinsha Patel.
Modi had invited the Maharani to be one of his proposers while he filed his nomination from Vadodara.
The Vadodara seat comprising seven Assembly seats has been a stronghold of the BJP especially in the last few Lok Sabha terms. Although the EC is yet to announce the date for the bypolls, reportedly it will be held in the first week of October, within the six months’ deadline. Most likely, coinciding with the grand festivities of Navratri.
As our Prime Minister is known to spring surprises, the name of the BJP candidate will not be out till the last minute. But we cannot deny the possibility that he may want his confidante back by his side. Afterall, he is yet to be rewarded for his hardwork for the party!
