Narendra Modi may loses some seats in first phase

Polling hovered around the 60-65 per cent mark in the peaceful first phase of the Gujarat elections on Tuesday as political analysts went into a huddle trying to figure out what this moderate turnout meant for the forces for and against Narendra Modi.

If initial reports in the satta market, which is being seen as a good barometer of political currents, are to be believed, there were some losses for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Saurashtra and a near repeat of the 2002 performance between the two parties in South Gujarat.

Overall, of the 87 seats which went to polls on Tuesday, the bookies were giving 38 seats to the Congress, 46 to BJP and three seats to smaller parties/independents. In 2002, the BJP had got 54, Congress 30 and smaller parties/independents got three.

The gains for the Congress in these two regions have to be really significant if the Congress has to get anywhere near the magical figure of 92 to get a simple majority. Saurashtra and South Gujarat were weak spots for Modi, in comparison with Central Gujarat and North Gujarat where he appears to be on firmer ground.

The second phase of polling for the remaining 95 seats will be held on December 16 where the BJP had made a clean sweep of these areas which were closer to Godhra and had witnessed the worst of the riots in 2002. While the communal pitch in 2007 is nowhere near the 2002 levels, this will be a test of Narendra Modi’s own popularity.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
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