AHMEDABAD: The sudden visit of one BJP leader one after another to Gujarat has led to speculation that early elections may be held in the state. Soon after the Prime Minister was in Gujarat from April 18 to April 20, Union Minister and Gujarat in-charge Bhupendra Yadav is on a two-day visit to Gujarat. On Friday, Union Minister Anurag Thakur also came to Gujarat to attend the AYUSH Summit. Not only that, the BJP National President is coming to Gujarat on April 26 to review the election preparations.
According to some experts, the BJP may hold early elections to give the opposition parties less time to prepare, as the Aam Aadmi Party is slowly building its organisation in Gujarat, while the Congress is also planning to field Prashant Kishor this time.
Amidst the speculation, Gujarat BJP in-charge and Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupendra Yadav landed in the state capital on Thursday morning to assess the ground situation with feedback from state leaders. This comes while state unit President CR Patil has conveyed the achievements of the BJP government to every household and reached out to voters with the ‘One Day, One District’ program. During his visit, he is meeting professionals, saints of religious sects, social activists and party office-bearers.
According to party sources, Yadav on Friday held a meeting with office-bearers of the party’s media cell, booth management committees, as well as other cells and sister organisations. He has sought feedback about the people’s perception of the state and central governments.
He also held a meeting with the council of ministers at the Chief Minister’s official residence in the presence of the Gujarat BJP chief. On his return to Delhi, Yadav will brief the party’s National President JP Nadda about his visit. Incidentally, Nadda is likely to visit the state on April 26 to meet state leaders, as the BJP gears up for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur was also on a one-day visit to Gujarat. He arrived in Gandhinagar to attend the Global AYUSH Summit. Talking to the media, he claimed that the BJP would get even better results in Gujarat than in UP.
Political analyst Mani Lal Patel said, “It is important to note that Prime Minister Modi's program was changed from April 20 to April 18 and immediately after the departure of the Prime Minister, Bhupendra Yadav arrived in Gujarat for a two-day visit and called a meeting of state ministers in the CM bungalow. The Gujarat BJP president was also present during the meeting of ministers with Yadav and also the BJP national president JP Nadda is suddenly coming to Gujarat on April 26. All this points in one direction and that is early elections."
He further said, "BJP leaders have denied that an early election will be held but they also denied that the Vijay Rupani government would change. But everyone knows what happened."
However, another analyst Dilip Patel denied the speculation, saying, “There is no rival against the BJP in Gujarat. In fact, all the decisions on Gujarat are made by Prime Minister Modi and as per the nature of the Prime Minister, he will not declare early elections under any circumstances.”