A dialogue with JC: What the Gujarat and Himachal trends show

Jagdeesh Chandra analyses the run up to the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

A loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gurdaspur and Chitrakoot does not mean that people are looking for alternatives for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, feels Zee Media's Executive Director and CEO of its Regional Channels Jagdeesh Chandra.

In the latest edition of ‘A Dialogue with JC’, Chandra analyses the run up to the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

Referring to Congress vice president and his possible fate after the assembly elections, he said that the Gandhi scion would become the Prime Minister if it’s in his destiny, but it does not seem to be happening in 2019.

However, he also believes that the BJP will not be able to get 150 seats in Gujarat, but might touch the figure of 117. According to Chandra, Vijay Rupani is most likely to be retained as the Chief Minister after the elections.

In Gujarat, the BJP is contesting the elections officially on the issue of development while the Congress is working on soft Hindutva, and this is endorsed by the recent visits of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to temples.

Talking about Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Chandra said that while the CD scandal has hit him, but it is yet to be ascertained if it has benefitted the BJP in any manner.

Besides, he said that only December 18 can reveal if the changes made in Goods and Services Tax (GST) have benefitted the BJP or not.

He further says that Rahul Gandhi becoming the Congress president will boost the morale of the party cadres, but pointed that the leader would only get 80% of the power while 20% of it would remain with Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders.

Talking about Himachal Pradesh, Chandra said that the state votes for Prem Kumar Dhumal in one election and for Virbhadra Singh in the next. And keeping this trend into consideration, the BJP under Dhumal is most likely to make a comeback.