As Modi wins Gujarat, BJP loses his hometown seat Unjha

In Unjha constituency, which encompasses Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown Vadnagar, Congress candidate Asha Patel has won the seat by over 19,000 votes.

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In Unjha constituency, which encompasses Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown Vadnagar, it is Congress candidate Asha Patel is leading by close to 14,000 votes. (file photo)

The headline from the Gujarat Assembly election results is perhaps not that the Bharatiya Janata Party is consolidating power and forming government for the sixth straight time. In Unjha constituency, which encompasses Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown Vadnagar, it is Congress candidate Asha Patel winning the seat by a margin of over 19,000 votes.

Sitting BJP MLA Narayan Patel had previously won over Asha by nearly 25,000 votes in 2012. In what seems to be an encore of the election result five years ago, the Congress this time seemed to be riding strong on the Patidar wave. At least 40 per cent of the population in Unjha is from the Patidar community and anger against the BJP is visible.

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Two years ago, at the height of the Patidar quota stir, one of the 14 youths killed during the violent protests was from Unjha. The mood against the BJP is so strong in this part of Gujarat that the party did not field even a single candidate on its symbol in the 2015 civic polls.

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The BJP has, however, tried to regain its foothold by wooing the Patidar community with government grants. When the Vijay Rupani government was rolling out schemes, projects and grants as part of it populist spree, ahead of the Gujarat election dates being announced, it had approved a grant of Rs 8.75 crore to Unjha-based Umiya Mataji Sansthan to develop tourist facilities. Unjha is the religious seat of Goddess Umiya, the reigning deity of Kadva Patidars in Gujarat.

On the BJP campaign trail, Rupani had avoided holding public meetings in Unjha after videos of Patidar youth disrupting the party’s Gaurav Yatra events went viral.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi had also campaigned extensively in these parts as part of his Navsarjan Yatra. He spoke of PM Modi completely avoiding all other election issues and making the campaign all about him.

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“You might have heard Modiji’s speech yesterday. For the first time, Modi-ji neither talked about the future of Gujarat, nor corruption, jobs or farmers. Narendra Modi-ji only spoke about Narendra Modi. Modi-ji, I want to tell you, this election is not about you. It is not about me either. It is not about BJP or Congress. This is about the future of the people of Gujarat, and if you give speeches, then speak about the future of the people of Gujarat. “I understand you cannot speak much about the 22-year rule… But at least tell the people what you will do in the next five years,” he said.

He had even visited the Umiya Mata temple, which is a few kilometres from Modi’s birthplace of Vadnagar, and performed aarti.

Earlier in October, in an attempt to woo the Kadva Patidars, PM Modi inaugurated the Umiya Dham Ashram in Haridwar via video conferencing. Welcoming the people with “Jai Umiya Maa!”, PM Modi said he was a volunteer in 1975-76 when the festival of Maa Umiya was organised.

Despite its best efforts, today’s election results paint a different picture. The BJP has won the state but lost their traditional vote bank.