Opp smells rat behind Modi146;s local poll delay

The BJP may be making a show of confidence that it has consolidated its Hindu votebank in Gujarat post-Godhra. But the Narendra Modi governm...

The BJP may be making a show of confidence that it has consolidated its Hindu votebank in Gujarat post-Godhra. But the Narendra Modi government8217;s decision to postpone the elections to 86 municipalities, two district panchayats and 15 taluka panchayats seems to suggest that all is not well.

Though Modi8217;s spokesman and Urban Development Minister I.K. Jadeja, while announcing the postponement on Wednesday, gave the impending monsoon as the reason, sources said there might be other reasons behind the move. The BJP leadership fears that reverses in these elections may have a bearing on the Assembly polls which the party wants to advance from February 2003 to October this year, the sources added.

Another factor is the internal bickerings within the party organisation and the Modi ministry. Former chief minister Keshubhai Patel has adopted an aggressive posture and several of the BJP ministers have expressed unhappiness with Modi8217;s style of functioning. A defeat in the local body elections could give them a handle against Modi.

Leader of Opposition Naresh Raval said the Governor has stated the situation in Gujarat is fit for holding Assembly polls while BJP chief Jana Krishnamurthy has said that Assembly elections would be held under Modi. 8216;8216;Then, why is the CM scared of facing the municipality and panchayat polls,8217;8217; he said.

He said the Congress was planning to challenge the government8217;s decision in court. 8216;8216;Local bodies have a constitutional status and elections cannot be deferred like this,8217;8217; he said.

Gujarat BJP chief Rajendrasinh Rana, however, said that 8216;8216;the present political climate is congenial8217;8217; for the BJP, and Assembly and municipality polls could be conducted simultaneously to save expenditure.

Sources link the government8217;s diffidence to face local body elections to the neglect of these areas. The government has done little to solve local problems and, for the last two years, these municipalities and panchayats have been controlled by administrators who are not accountable to the people.

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The postponement comes when the state EC was set to conduct the elections. 8216;8216;If we could conduct the polls in as many as 1,600 village panchayats on April 7 when parts of the state were still in the grip of violence, why can8217;t we hold these elections during the monsoon,8217;8217; sources in the EC8217;s office said. They went on to add: 8216;8216;Monsoon should not be a reason for not holding the local body elections. When the LS polls could be held in the state in the midst of the monsoon in August 1999, why can8217;t local body elections be held now?8217;8217;