In an effort to reach out to voters of all linguistic backgrounds in the last leg of its campaign in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has roped in over 100 MLAs from states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
The state goes to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5, and votes will be counted on December 8. The non-Gujarat MLAs have been tasked with holding meetings with people from their states who are now settled in various districts of South and Central Gujarat.
BJP’s Gujarat spokesperson Yamal Vyas said, “It was part of our election plan to rope in MLAs who can speak to people in their native language. Gujarat has a sizeable population of people from Rajasthan and Maharashtra followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”
“Since South and Central Gujarat have many industrial avenues, people from other states have been living here for years. The MLAs are able to communicate better with them, it helps us in garnering support,” he added.
As many as 35 MLAs have come from Maharashtra, 35 from Rajasthan, 20 from Uttar Pradesh and 15 from Bihar. The teams will cover areas such as Surat, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, Bharuch, Dangs, Ahmedabad and Vadodra.
“Before distributing tickets, the BJP had conducted surveys on the ground to know people’s opinion about candidates. Many voters had expressed their resentment that incumbent legislators of the party didn’t pay attention to their grievances,” said a senior party leader wishing anonymity.
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To counter anti-incumbency, the central leadership of the BJP decided to get in MLAs from other states who can tackle the situation better and make sure they cast vote for the party, said the leader.
The BJP, which is seeking a seventh straight term in the western state, has also called on 40 central leaders to campaign in the state. The party is aggressively campaigning and hoping to get 150 seats out of the total 182.
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