Gujarat: AAP to play Hindu card to take on BJP

The gloves are off. Gujarat is set to witness a booth-level war between the BJP and its formidable foe, the Aam Aadmi Party. Emerging as the BJP’s “enemy number one”, AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who will visit Gujarat on July 9, will make forays into the saffron citadel with the slogan “One booth, 10 youth”.

Booth-level politics has been one of the strong points of the BJP. The AAP’s move to take on the saffron party at their own game is causing considerable concern in the local BJP. The Gujarat Assembly polls are due next year.

Mr Kejriwal, who played the panthic card in Punjab and Christian card in Goa, is now preparing to play the Hindu card in Gujarat. He tweeted: “Anandiben has got my Surat programme cancelled. But Lord Shiva has called. To see him, will go to Somnath on 9 July. That programme stays as it was.” His words echoed what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said as he ventured into Varanasi during the Lok Sabha polls — “Mujhe toh ma Ganga ne bulaya hai. (Mother Ganga has called me)”.

With the Congress down and out and the BJP hit by resentment and anti-incumbency, the AAP has decided to move in as an alternative force in Gujarat. While eyeing the Patidar voters and extending support to its jailed leader, Hardik Patel, the AAP on Thursday made it clear that “as a party we are against reservations”. The Patidar community, a major part of the financial backbone of the BJP, had been seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status. Mr Kejriwal will try to meet Hardik Patel in jail.

What is worrying the BJP is the way Mr Kejriwal is trying to make inroads into the state. The AAP leader is expected to address a gathering of party members on July 10 in Surat, which has a significant Patidar and migrant population. Poet and AAP leader Kumar Vishwas will also join the Delhi CM on the two-day visit.

Similar to Delhi and Goa, the high rate of urbanisation in Gujarat makes the state a prime target for the AAP. Incidentally, elections will be held in Gujarat after the Punjab and Goa polls next year.

At this juncture, besides tapping the Patidar community, playing the Somnath card and trying to woo farmers, the AAP is focusing on strengthening the party at the booth level. Senior AAP leader Ashutosh told this newspaper that the party “needs to strengthen itself at least in 70 per cent of the booths”.

While the AAP has not decided to project any face as yet, AAP leader and former BJP legislator Kanu Kalsaria will be one of the key leaders. Mr Kalsaria had opted out of the BJP following differences with the party on farmers’ issues: he had opposed the setting up of a cement factory in a wetland.