By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : Although he is neither contesting the Gujarat elections nor campaigning for anyone, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister Keshubhai Patel is often hogging the headlines in the state.
This week again there was plenty of spice on account of Patel when he was quoted as saying in advertisements put out by BJP rebels in two Gujarati dailies: “A change is required.”
This adds to the poll ache for BJP central leaders who have been trying without success to get the veteran Patel to campaign for the party.
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Elections are when politicians switch sides. Gujarat too has been witnessing the Aya Ram-Gaya Ram episodes. But those involved have mainly been disgruntled elements in various political parties.
One “defection” that has caused more than ripples is the return to the BJP of advocate-turned-politician Yatin Oza. He had contested the 2002 assembly elections against Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the Maninagar constituency.
Oza is now all praise for Modi and says he was never against the BJP ideologically. The former BJP legislator from Sabarmati, Oza quit the BJP while attacking then chief minister Keshubhai Patel.
After that he joined the Congress and fought against Modi. This followed a period in which Oza remained politically dormant.
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While election meetings addressed by Narendra Modi are well attended, this is not the case with the rallies addressed by other senior BJP leaders.
The crowds attending some of the meetings of veterans like L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi have been very thin. What this indicates for the party in the days to come is anybody’s guess.
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Ever since the Gujarat elections were announced in October, politicians have stooped to low levels and were seen using unparliamentary language against their adversaries.
Gujarat Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala compared Congress leaders coming from outside the state to campaign for their party with rabid dogs. He called them Alsatians and Doberman who have come to bark.
Murli Manohar Joshi went a step ahead. Addressing a public meeting at Karanpara Chowk in Vala’s constituency, he said the Congress campaigners have gone berserk and are behaving like drunken monkeys stung by scorpions.
But Congress leaders are also in the dock on charges of calling Modi names.