Booth management skills, urbanised voters may save the day for BJP

Undoubtedly, the BJP remains far ahead in this owing to its cadre-based organisational structure and on the other hand, there is Congress party - at least at the booth level in the poll-bound Gujarat, the party does not have any structure. 

And in order to make up for the organisational weaknesses, the Congress candidates have pulled in 'personal as well as family and neighbourly resources' to take on the mighty BJP.

On the other hand, on papers, especially after the mammoth membership drive - the BJP is world's largest political outfit and when it is zeroed down to the ground level - say in constituencies like Naroda and Thakkarbapa Nagar in Ahmedabad - the high efficacy of booth management is quite evident.

"On an average 25-30 workers have been already involved in every booth in segments like Naroda and Thakkarbapa Nagar Assembly constituencies," PD Mistry, BJP organisation secretary at Thakkarbapa Nagar Assembly seat, told UNI.

In fact, he said there are more than two-three tier systems worked out as per necessities and 'electoral plans' and women wings, minority cells and even Durga Vahini (women wing of Bajrang Dal) have been also involved.

"It is a mechanism under which we also fix accountability and secret reports are often sought from the district and state leadership. But all these are accepted as a norm wherein there is not much ill-feeling as ultimately the interests of the party and the principles of discipline and sacrifice are involved," says one booth manager at Thakkarbapa Nagar -where BJP has fielded Dr Vallbhbhai Kakadia, the State Transport Minister.

In contrast, the Congress has poor organisational network in the State - and as the polling days - December 9 and December 14 - approach this difference is being felt more strongly.

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi admits: "Our party needs to focus more on booth management especially in urban and semi-urban pockets".

Others say - even as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's campaign and interactions with doctors, lawyers and businessmen have gone down well, there is an obvious apprehension that all that may not translate into votes.

The Congress internal assessment both in Ahmedabad's 16 constituencies and in the state level has been that in order to take the battle into the 'enemy camp' - the Congress ought to improve its performance in semi-urban and urban seats.

"In 2012 assembly elections out of 39 urban and semi urban seats spread across eight major municipal cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar - the Congress had won only four as against the staggeringly high 35 by BJP.

"This has been often due to booth management slackness. In 2007 and 2012, we realised whether our traditional and openly known voters did not turn up to exercise their franchise in considerable cases, last minute management fetched BJP some additional seats," says Raju Momin, a Congress worker at Dariyapur.

In Jamnagar City, the Congress workers say the party candidate Ashok Lal was reluctant for the contest as the party could not give him good organisational men and women. "Ultimately, he had to turn towards his brother Jeetubhai, a former BJP man," one of his polling agents said.

Even BJP sources have confirmed about party's strong grip in the urban pockets.

Endorsing these views, sources say around 50 per cent of valid votes for BJP in 2012 and largely in 2007.

Assembly polls also came from semi-urban hubs. In contrast, the Congress vote share was a dwindling 28 per cent in towns and cities.