Assembly polls key test for Modi

The Assembly elections in five states will prove whether or not the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is a “vote-catcher” or these polls will be fought purely on local issues and under the local leadership. These elections are important in the sense that they could set the tone for the next general elections. Moreover, the electoral battle will be fought in the Hindi belt and that too between the two national parties. The AAP is yet to emerge as an alternative to either the Congress or the BJP in Delhi. Though the Congress and the BJP are banking on the “incumbency” factor, they have been in power in Delhi, Rajasthan (Congress), Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (BJP), checking the regional players. It is unclear whether Mr Modi will attract floating voters in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and whether incumbent chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh will create a record of sorts by winning these states consecutively for the third time. But the Congress managers are confident that Mr Modi’s presence will certainly help the party as he is seen as a polarising figure, which they feel will definitely weaken the BJP’s “governance” card in these two states. Chief ministers Sheila Dikshit and Ashok Gehlot will lead the Congress’ electoral battle in Delhi and Rajasthan from the front while Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is daring the BJP in MP. He is building the campaign on the central theme of “change”. The current mood in the Congress is against fielding its sitting MPs or Union ministers in the Rajasthan polls while in MP, the party may ally with a like-minded regional party to defeat the BJP, which has been ruling the state since the last 10 years. But a “clean image” will be the main criteria in selecting the candidates in all five states. These elections are being seen as a semi-final before the big battle for the Lok Sabha next year. According to Congress managers, the AICC is expected to announce its candidates for Rajasthan in the third week of October. The party’s screening committee will meet before that. The Congress will go alone in Delhi, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh but in MP it may ally with the Gondvana Ganatantra Party. The 42-year-old Scindia, who has been given the key responsibility of chairman of the party’s campaign committee for the Madhya Pradesh polls, is being seen as the fresh face of the party to take on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state. Mr Scindia’s insistence is on united action and he has been projecting that the entire state Congress leaders are one this time to oust the BJP from power as “its regime has witnessed only corruption and unfulfilled promises for development”. He claimed that Madhya Pradesh has created a record of sorts with the chief minister making as many as 7,000 announcements in the last less than five years, of which 5,000 are lying in cold storage. “There is a big gap between what they say and do. The chief minister only keeps promising things. He has made about 7,000 announcements in the last five years, out of which 5,000 are lying in cold storage,” he said.