In Gujarat, all eyes on Ahmedabad -Governance Now

In Gujarat, all eyes on Ahmedabad

In the principal city, Cong has not tallied more than three seats since 1990

GN Bureau | December 18, 2017

#Gujarat #Elections #Politics #BJP #Congress #Narendra Modi

All eyes are on Gujarat as the vote count is on, but in the state all eyes might be on Ahmedabad.

The chief city, and the early capital before the planned township of Gandhinagar came up, has 16 assembly constituencies. Since the rise of the BJP, that is, since 1990, the party has been very successful in Ahmedabad, which has been like the hub of Hindutva.

In 1980, in its electoral debut, the BJP won only one of the 12 seats, and the 1985 result was no different. But in 1990 it wrested ten out of 12 seats. In 1995, with total seat increase, the tally went up to a clean wash, 13-0. In 1998, it was 11-3. In the three elections led by Narendra Modi – in 2002, 2007 and 2012 – the BJP count was 12, 11 and 14 respectively.

The Congress, thus, has to content with this scoreline since 1990: 2, 0, 3, 2, 3, 2.

Notably, Modi as chief minister had chosen Maninagar in the city as his constituency. So did his successor Anandiben Patel (Ghatlodia) as well as party president Amit Shah at one point of time (Ghatlodia).

This time, if it is going to be different, Ahmedabad might be an indicator: if the Patidar movement has any impact, it will show up first here.

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