RSS core support base boosts Gupta’s vote share
Long-time RSS worker and BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta came third in the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll, losing not just to the ruling AAP’s Sanjeev Arora but also to the Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
An analysis of the result indicates that the RSS went all out, campaigning for him door to door in this Hindu-dominated constituency.
Although both PM Modi and Home minister Amit Shah could not make it to Gupta’s campaign, the rest of the Punjab BJP as well as several leaders from Delhi pitched in to support Gupta, whose candidature was announced only two days before the deadline.
Gupta’s last-minute candidature was said to be the result of a massive intra-party confusion. Speculation was rife that Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu would be given the ticket, but he demurred. Then there was talk around advocate Bikram Sidhu, who was the candidate the last time around. Ultimately, Gupta got the ticket, an indication of the RSS sway over the election process.
Last time around, the BJP candidate had polled 23.9 per cent. This time, Guta polled 22.9 per cent.
In his defence, Bittu said, “The announcement of Jeevan Gupta’s ticket was delayed as the party leadership was engaged in the Operation Sindoor campaign. This hampered our campaign planning and visibility.” But he pointed out that the extraordinary low voter-turnout, the lowest in 18 years, was a reflection of “public disinterest…Out of the nearly 90,000 votes cast, the AAP candidate managed only around 35,000 votes. This clearly indicates that anti-AAP sentiment in the constituency is much stronger than the mandate the party received,” Bittu said.
But Bittu made sure that he stayed in Ludhiana for the entire duration of the campaign, from the time Jiwan Gupta’s name was announced till the poll result day today. Moreover, he persuaded the entire state leadership to pitch its tent in Ludhiana — former MP Avinash Rai Khanna as the in-charge of the campaign, former Union Minister Vijay Sampla as the co-in-charge, five mandal in charges, including former minister Manoranjan Kalia, former state presidents Ashwani Sharma and Shwait Malik, former MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon as well as former Minister Tikshan Sood.
Besides, senior leaders, including Jagmohan Raju, Rakesh Rathod, Parminder Barad and Subhash Sharma, also stood guard.
The party involvement was strengthened with the entry of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Haryana CM Naib Singh Saini, Union Minister Hardeep Puri and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur.
Former Gujarat CM and senior leader Vijay Rupani, who passed away in the airplane crash at Ahmedabad recently, also participated in the campaign earlier this month. Party president Sunil Jakhar came at least five times.
Speaking about party affairs in the state, a former president admitted, “We are aware about the fact that we are lacking in connecting with public on ground. This was the biggest reason why our party opted to include leaders from opposition, particularly Congress.”
Punjab