Congress expects gains in Morbi seat: ‘Modi saheb talks about defence equipment… govt can’t maintain a bridge’

The Congress’s win in 2017 had come against the backdrop of the Patidar quota agitation. With its substantial Patidar population, Morbi had been one of the key centres of the agitation. The Congress winner then, Brijesh Merja, finished by just 3,419 votes ahead of the BJP’s five-time winner Kanti Amrutiya.

After he crossed over to the BJP, resigned, contested a bypoll in 2020 and won again, Merja was suitably rewarded in the 2021 Cabinet reshuffle, when all ministers, starting from the Chief Minister, were replaced. Merja was made Minister of State for Panchayat, Labour, Skill Development, Rural Housing and Rural Development.

In the wake of the tragedy, as Merja faced the heat, the former BJP Morbi MLA, Amrutiya, was at the heart of the rescue operations. He was one of the local leaders who jumped into the Machchhu river to try to pull out people from the waters.

While neither Merja nor Amrutiya could be contacted despite repeated attempts, the Congress is confident that given the developments of Sunday, Morbi will again vote for the party. Speaking with The Indian Express, Tankara MLA and working president of the Gujarat Congress Lalit Kagathara said, “This incident will impact the BJP not just in Morbi constituency, but in the entire Gujarat. People have witnessed the failure of the administration. (Narendra) Modi saheb is talking about making defence equipment, and we have not been able to maintain a bridge. People have realised that these (BJP) people are just making hollow claims.”

Kagathara claimed that the Congress already had an edge in the seat. “Brijesh Merja would have anyway lost if given the ticket. Now he will certainly lose.”

Morbi district Congress president Jayantilal Patel, among those to have lost to the BJP several times from the constituency, said: “The incident has highlighted the failure of the system… This will have a tremendous impact on the outcome of the Morbi seat.”

His BJP counterpart Durlabhji Dethariya said it was wrong to blame the government for what happened. “The contract of maintenance was given (to a private firm)… I do not think that this incident will affect our party. Our government and party workers have fully performed their duties (following the mishap).”

However, in private, BJP leaders admit apprehension. A senior party office-bearer in the state said: “Any disaster at such a time has political implications.” He added: “The next 72 hours are very important for the party and the government in terms of how they deal with the situation and public sentiment. If the state administration works in a compassionate manner and succeeds in convincing people (that there were no lapses on its part)… it may not have a mass reaction across the state. But, the next 72 hours will decide.”

All eyes therefore are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Morbi on Tuesday. Modi, who is on a three-day tour of Gujarat, did not visit the tragedy site on Monday, though he as well as Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel cancelled many of their scheduled events.

Along with a number of ministers, Patel is currently camping in Morbi to oversee the rescue and relief operations. Modi attended three events during the day where, in his address, he expressed remorse over the tragedy.