Ahmedabad, Oct 10 - Countdown has started for the big battle in Gujarat with the Election Commission Wednesday announcing Dec 11 and Dec 16 as dates for the much-awaited assembly polls whose outcome would impact political equations at the national level too.When Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and two election commissioners visited the state Oct 4, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suggested two-phase poll with an interval of five days, while the Congress wanted the poll in a single phase.In the outgoing house, the BJP has a record 127 seats and the Congress 51.Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who led the BJP to victory in December 2002, will emerge further stronger if he retains power even as he faces rebellion from a large section of the party.If he is humbled, Bharat Solanki, the Congress unit chief in Gujarat, will emerge as a leader in his own right.Elections in the state have been on the whole peaceful in the past. However, there are lurking fears that the tenor of the poll could be different this time.The BJP had announced that it has readied 'poll management armies' for every booth to prevent any attempt at booth capturing.This statement made the Congress and other political parties make a plea to the Election Commission that the polls should not be held under the supervision of the Gujarat police and that the Commission should summon police forces from outside the state to monitor the booths.The chief election commissioner in his response stated that the poll panel had conducted elections with external help in the past and will do so in Gujarat too if it was found necessary.On its part, the BJP national leadership is confident that the party will fare even better this time than in the 2002 polls and is hoping for a landslide win with at least 150 seats.The Congress, on the other hand, is certain that it will return to power after a gap of 17 years.Gujarat went out of the Congress fold in 1990 when the coalition between late Chimanbhai Patel as the leader of the Janata Dal and the BJP got the mandate to rule the state. The BJP swept to power on its own stream in 1995.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
