Flush with the success of his election campaign in Punjab, which wrested the state from the Congress, master strategist and BJP general secretary in charge of the party?s campaign in Gujarat, Arun Jaitley, is brimming with confidence about the poll prospects in one of the country?s most developed states.
It?s a battle in which both the BJP and Congress have unleashed all the ammunition in their political arsenals since, as Jaitley puts it, ?The outcome of these polls will definitely influence the political environment before the mid-term or general elections?. But Jaitley is optimistic about Narendra Modi leading the party to a comfortable majority in the Gujarat Assembly.
This, according the former Union minister for commerce, law & industries, is primarily on account of the fact that for the people of Gujarat, ?The party and leadership are tried and tested.? Jaitley, who spearheaded the Gujarat poll campaign in a communally surcharged post-Godhra environment in which the BJP made a clean sweep, is also one of Modi?s main supporters within the BJP?s senior leadership.
In an exclusive interview with FE, Jaitley says another major factor going Modi?s way is that the forthcoming election is a battle between ?Narendra Modi versus a faceless Congress campaign,? adding: ?Let alone any state-level leader, the Congress is not even projecting any national leader who can take Modi head-on.?
Apart from that, Jaitley is confident that under Modi?s leadership, Gujarat has had a ?very good track record of governance whether it be social welfare issues or developmental indices.? The Congress, on the other hand, according to Jaitley, has little to show on all three fronts.
Jaitley also expresses reservations about the SEZ policy. ?SEZs were meant only for manufacturing for export. SEZs were never intended for real estate development. The ideal location for SEZs should be wastelands at the coasts, which would neither be against the interests of farmers and would have the advantage of proximity to ports.?