Modi plays defensive on home turf,on a spree to please everyone in the state

Modi has also gone for a ministry expansion after dilly-dallying for almost a year. Old loyals like Vijay Rupani and former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin,who had left Congress to join hands with Modi just before the 2012 Assembly elections,have been rewarded. No such appointment has been made since 2001. Another import from Congress,Saurashtra strongman Vitthal Radadiya,who was showing signs of unrest following delay in the ministry expansion,was finally rewarded. Radadiya’s son,Jayesh,was included in the ministry on November 1.

Modi’s detractors,however,say that this is a part of his “political strategy” to buy time and show a picture of a “happy Gujarat” to the nation. It was Modi government only which,from 2009 to 2011,fought a legal battle against farmers,going to the SC to save the land allotted to Nirma Cement plant in coastal Mahuva of Bhavnagar district. The agitation was led by the then BJP MLA Dr Kanubhai Kalsariya. “The Modi government was very adamant. It was not willing to compromise at all,” said Dr Kalsaria,who had led farmers’ agitation against Nirma Cement plant despite being a BJP MLA then. “But this time,when Modi has national aspirations,his government is on the back foot,” he added.

In August,two months after Modi was made the BJP’s PM nominee,Modi,however,gave in to pressure from farmers by withdrawing 36 of the 44 villages under the M-B SIR,sparing the Maruti Suzuki automobile factory,the flagship project on the SIR. Dr Kalsariya was also part of this agitation. And this happened despite the fact that this SIR was important,given its proximity to the Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor. Farmers from SIR-affected villages put up an intense show by landing in Gandhinagar in huge numbers. In Kevadiya,tribals from 70 villages downstream of Sardar Sarovar Dam,met the cabinet core committee in Gandhinagar on October 15 and registered a protest against the Statue of Unity project.

On October 31,while laying the foundation stone of the Statue of Unity,Modi said,“Narmada is a small district. And,for its development,we’ve accepted people’s demands and declared Garudeshwar a new taluka. Besides,the villages on the left side of the dam will also get Narmada water.” The state government had created 23 new talukas on August 15,but the demand for Garudeshwar had been rejected.

Sanat Mehta,former Gujarat finance minister who was also a part of Mahuva and SIR agitation,said,“This is Modi’s political strategy. To sell his development model,Modi wants to show to the nation that there is no discontent against him in Gujarat. He has provided political solutions and not addressed root cause. ”

Trupti Shah,who was part of the agitation by 70 villages,said,“For the first time in many years,the Modi government talked to us. But this is just a trick. We need to see whether the decisions that have been announced will be implemented and what happens after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.”