BY Unknown Saturday, December 09, 2017 0

Voting in India’s Gujarat begins, a high-stake election

Voting began Saturday in state legislature elections in India’s Gujarat state which are being seen as a high-stake battle for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the 2019 general elections.
Elections are being held in half of the state Saturday with voting scheduled in the other half on December 14. Results for both are to be announced on Dec. 18.
The main challenger to the BJP, which also runs India’s federal government, is the Indian National Congress party with its vice president Rahul Gandhi leading the campaign in Gujarat.
The BJP has been in power in the state for more than two decades.​
Saurashtra on the Arabian Sea coast where elections are being held in the first phase has a large population of the influential Patel or Patidar community which has been campaigning for quotas and whose leader 24-year-old Hardik Patel is opposing the BJP.
Voting is also being held in the diamond and textile hub Surat which has seen street protests after the government introduced a new composite tax which has brought small businesses to their knees.
Gujarat is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state and he has already held 15 campaign rallies.
He was chief minister of Gujarat before being elected prime minister.
The elections are expected to impact the fortunes of both India’s ruling BJP and the main opposition Indian National Congress in the 2019 general elections.
A big win for the BJP, which has been in power in the state for 22 years, would come as a sign of approval not only for its governance of the state but for Modi, who was Gujarat chief minister for three terms before becoming prime minister of India.
Modi had promised to introduce the “Gujarat development model” across India if he became prime minister. A lesser win than the last election could raise a question mark over this “model” that has many critics.
A poor performance would be a direct reflection on them and a big win would strengthen their position within their party.
A win would also indicate that the BJP’s electoral fortunes are not being impacted by the hasty introduction of a new composite tax in June which has angered small businessmen and traders.
Gujarat is one of the most industrialised states in India with a large trading community.
The Congress party, which has lost a string of elections in recent years, and its leader Rahul Gandhi are hoping the state elections will provide a platform to revive their fortunes. (dpa/NAN)
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