05-02-2009, 06:33 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gujarat poll over, but Modi goes without breather</b>
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Rathin Das | Ahmedabad
The peaceful completion of polling for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat brings no relief to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who criss-crossed the State several times to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates.
<b>Even after the election is over in his home State, the BJPâs star campaigner is on a busy schedule for the next 12 days during which he is required to address about 40 party rallies all over north India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
Modi has already left for Uttar Pradesh for campaigning in places where elections are due in the fourth and fifth phases, scheduled on May 7 and May 13</b>.
The election time-table this year has not only kept the Chief Minister busy even beyond the polling day in his State, but also robbed the State of a grand celebration for the golden jubilee of Gujaratâs foundation. Having been carved out of erstwhile Bombay State on May 1, 1960, the State of Gujarat on Friday entered the 50th year of its creation which called for an extravagant celebration. But it had to be put off due to the poll schedule and the model code of conduct being in force.
On the other hand, with fortunes of their nominees locked in the EVMs till May 16, both Congress and BJP have claimed that the low voting pattern indicates their victory. Normally, a low polling rate makes the political parties jittery as they suspect their supporters have stayed away from voting. But this time, a State-wide polling of around 50 per cent is being interpreted by both BJP and Congress as being to their advantage. The assumption behind such thinking is that the voters did not bother to turn up simply because of the heat wave and not due to any disenchantment with the party or the candidate.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
link
Rathin Das | Ahmedabad
The peaceful completion of polling for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat brings no relief to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who criss-crossed the State several times to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates.
<b>Even after the election is over in his home State, the BJPâs star campaigner is on a busy schedule for the next 12 days during which he is required to address about 40 party rallies all over north India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
Modi has already left for Uttar Pradesh for campaigning in places where elections are due in the fourth and fifth phases, scheduled on May 7 and May 13</b>.
The election time-table this year has not only kept the Chief Minister busy even beyond the polling day in his State, but also robbed the State of a grand celebration for the golden jubilee of Gujaratâs foundation. Having been carved out of erstwhile Bombay State on May 1, 1960, the State of Gujarat on Friday entered the 50th year of its creation which called for an extravagant celebration. But it had to be put off due to the poll schedule and the model code of conduct being in force.
On the other hand, with fortunes of their nominees locked in the EVMs till May 16, both Congress and BJP have claimed that the low voting pattern indicates their victory. Normally, a low polling rate makes the political parties jittery as they suspect their supporters have stayed away from voting. But this time, a State-wide polling of around 50 per cent is being interpreted by both BJP and Congress as being to their advantage. The assumption behind such thinking is that the voters did not bother to turn up simply because of the heat wave and not due to any disenchantment with the party or the candidate.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->