The dawn of a new government is expected soon in Gujarat, with the state election just around the corner. As the political tension rises, the state is expecting a three-way competition for the first time with the Aam Aadmi Party’s debut, instead of the usual bipolar political face-off between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. While people are anxious about who will handle the reins of Gujarat next, one of the main questions has also been about the BJP’s choice of chief minister candidate if it grabs yet another win in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
On Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended a special program organised by News18. Prior to his appearance, many prominent faces of the two major contesting parties – the BJP and the Congress – conversed, expressed and debated their party’s position and strategies for the 2023 state election. Some of the BJP representatives at the event were – state home minister Harsh Sanghavi and the Patel agitation representative turned politician Hardik Patel, who once served as the working president of the Congress but later shifted to the saffron party.
While the BJP has maintained a stronghold in Gujarat for over 22 years, silent whispers are questioning whether the unchallenged rule will continue in 2023. Nevertheless, the party has expressed unwavering confidence that it will definitely win with a majority this time, citing that they will secure at least 150 seats in the upcoming state election. While the AAP has decided to make a strong debut in Gujarat, both the BJP and the Congress have firmly denied any competition, claiming that both consider only the other as competition.
The event hosts also took questions from the audience present at the event, wherein a delegate compared the state to Uttar Pradesh, asking whether the BJP has a local face for Gujarat like it has Yogi Adityanath for the northern state.
During the 8 o’clock segment with Amit Shah, hosted by News18 editor-in-chief Rajesh Raina, the Home Minister dismissed all doubts and stated, “If (the) BJP gets a majority in Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel will be the next chief minister.” This will be the seventh consecutive term for the party in case it manages to secure its rule in Gujarat.
The AAP has been ‘aggressively posing’ itself as the main competition to the BJP, and has projected Isudan Gadhvi as its CM candidate, from the Khambalia constituency.
In 2017, the BJP managed to secure the government with 99 seats, but faced significant competition from the Congress, which secured 77 seats. Gujarat’s 182 constituencies will face voting booths in two phases, on December 1 and 5, with counting scheduled for December 8.
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