Congress' own study paints grim picture in Gujarat

In Gujarat, where Congress is hoping to gain from an anti-incumbency vote and discontent among the Patidar community that traditionally supported the ruling BJP, an influencer audit carried out at the party’s behest has left its leaders flummoxed, sources said.

While Congress has officially denied the existence of any such audit, party sources said a study was indeed carried out to gauge the mood of the communities ahead of the assembly polls later this year. It indicated a tectonic shift among voters in the essentially bipolar politics of Gujarat, but the principal opposition party is unlikely to gain from it, they said. Independent candidates, as per the findings, are set to benefit the most in the current political environment.

Senior Congress leader Arjun Modvadia said there were no such audits and that by far all the surveys conducted by the party had shown a strong undercurrent towards the party. However, two Congress sources, who confirmed the presence of the audit, said the party had even constituted committees to work on damage control. “It is going to be a tough contest this time and in a few seats the calls will be really close where independents or disgruntled candidates can cause serious damage,” said a senior leader.

Tejashree Patel, one of the MLAs who had resigned from Congress ahead of the recent Rajya Sabha elections, had told ET that Congress had gained in the 2015 local body elections due to the disenchantment among the Patidars towards the government, but her pleas to the Congress leadership to make efforts to attract the community towards the party had fallen on deaf ears. Patel is now in BJP.