By Faraz Ahmad, IANS
New Delhi : Will the Congress be third time lucky as Gujarat goes to polls before the year-end? Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister and now a union minister, is confident it will be and feels "religious sentiments" will not win elections any more.
Asked about the Congress' prospects in the election, the textile minister shot back: "Of course, one hundred percent! More than one hundred percent!"
So what about reports that Chief Minister Narendra Modi may play the Hindutva card – as he did in the December 2002 election because of the communal divide in the state?
"He may engineer anything. But now people have become conscious," Vaghela, 67, told IANS from Ahmedabad where he is spending more and more time now.
"Once people were swayed by sentiments. That time there was Godhra (the train killings of February 2002), and then there was Akshardham (terror attack on that temple in September 2002).
"But every time you cannot use the same religious sentiments to win elections," asserted the senior most minister from Gujarat in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet.
Vaghela's views matter – because he knows the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inside out. After all, along with Modi he was one of the architects of the first victory of the party in the state assembly elections in 1995. The former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member was soon disenchanted at being sidelined after the party came to power and rebelled, launched his Rashtriya Janata Party and became chief minister in 1996 for a year before joining the Congress.
Queried about the importance the BJP leadership attaches to Modi: "They are now subordinate to the chief minister of Gujarat, including people like (former deputy prime minister L.K.) Advani.
"He (Advani) is no more the main leader or main hero of BJP. He would like to be in parliament from Gandhinagar. They are dependent on the grace of the chief minister and, therefore, they are treating him with such reverence."
Vaghela did not mince words when asked to comment on Modi's record as Gujarat's longest serving chief minister.
"The present government is just a bundle of hypocrisy. There is no law and order. The government is run by propaganda advertisements. The government achievements are there only in big, big advertisements."
Sensing an opportunity to regain power in the state, Congress leaders and workers have got into the election mode in right earnest.
"I started my Parivartan Yatra (campaign for change) from May 22 to convey the message of the Congress to the peasantry of north Gujarat. I travelled continuously for 15 to 20 days," he said.
"We have been holding successful rallies and demonstrations against the Modi government. Last week we had a successful rally in south Gujarat. The Congress is working hard with a team spirit."
As for people of Gujarat, Vaghela said they gave "tremendous response" to the Congress programmes.
"People are now turning up in large numbers. They are coming on their own to attend our rallies and dharnas."
One more factor that could favour the Congress is the dissidence in BJP, with a number of legislators seeking Modi's ouster. Vaghela, however, said: "That is BJP's concern. We are not taking interest in the internal affairs of BJP and their infighting."