Ahmedabad: With just days left for the Gujarat Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned to retain power in the state.
Many important leaders of the party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Amit Shah are seen addressing public rallies in the state where the saffron party is in power for the past 27 years.
Entry of AIMIM, AAP in local politics
With the entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in local politics, there are chances of a vote division.
It seems that BJP leaders are worried about the presence of Kejriwal’s party and Congress’ concern increased after AIMIM decided to field candidates in the upcoming assembly polls.
As per experts’ analysis, AAP is following soft Hindutva politics and avoiding raising issues related to Muslims fearing the loss of Hindu votes whereas, AIMIM is raising Muslim and Dalit issues that may result in the division of their votes.
BJP leads in money power
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed that the share of crorepati candidates has gone up over the last five years. Out of the 1,621 candidates, 456 (28 percent) are crorepatis in these polls as against out of 1,815 candidates, 418(23 percent) were crorepatis.
“The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates. Among the major parties 154 (85 percent) out of 182 candidates analyzed from the BJP, 142 (79 percent) out of 179 candidates analyzed from the Congress, and 68 (38 percent) out of 181 candidates analyzed from AAP have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore,” said he ADR report.
The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 is Rs 3.58 crore. In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly Elections, the average assets per candidate for 1,815 candidates was Rs 2.22 crore, said the report.
Among the major parties, the average assets per candidate for 182 BJP candidates analyzed is Rs 16.56 crore, 179 Congress candidates analyzed is Rs 7.99 crore, 181 AAP candidates have average assets of Rs 3.68 crore and 26 Bhartiya Tribal Party have average assets worth Rs 21.68 lakhs.
