GANDHINAGAR, February 5: With the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) taking off the mask of friendship, it is feared that their hostility will spill to the streets.According to a senior RJP leader, candidates of the two parties fear scraps between party workers for at least 50 to 60 seats.Dissent runs high in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Some nominations are being strongly opposed. Bowing to pressure from workers, the party was forced to change, at the last minute, candidates for two seats. Gopaldas Bhojwani and Vittal Patel, contesting the Vidhan Sabha elections from Ahmedabad, have been replaced with ``trusted candidates''.Meanwhile, party chief L K Advani drafted Narendra Modi to direct the election campaign.The division of votes is inevitable, and the Congress and RJP are forced to woo specific communities, while the BJP tries to get a firm foothold. The weeks to come will bring the leaders of these parties to the doorsteps of Kolis, Muslims, and Adivasis. The Patels and otherupper castes are largely with the BJP. These communities will play a decisive role in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Muslims account for about 11 per cent of voters, and in some pockets in the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, they can tilt the balance. Adivasis too are likely to play a dominant role. Though the BJP has made inroads into tribal domains, the Congress and RJP will try to garner a share. However, the Janata Dal, which has no base elsewhere in the state, is emerging as a powerful contender in tribal belts.The Kolis, who live in the Saurashtra region, have emerged as an important factor. The BJP has scored a point by inducting Koli leader Purshottam Solanki, who, however, has a criminal background. Solanki is considered a godfather by the Kolis. It is estimated that Solanki can swing the vote in at least 20 odd Assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies in Saurashtra.Solanki was earlier with RJP, and Shankersinh Vaghela had made him chairman of a state corporation. But he hadresigned in protest against Vaghela's ``authoritarian style of functioning''. Despite the criticism following his induction in the BJP, the party knows the potential of the man. Solanki has been given a ticket for an Assembly seat in Bhavnagar.
