Congress sees Gujarat polls as trial run for '04

The main opposition Congress party is viewing next month's state polls in western province of Gujarat as a trial run since a victory against the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state will stand it in good stead in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

Undeterred by opinion polls that the BJP may be headed for a sweeping victory in communally polarised Gujarat, the Congress party's think tanks are homing in on two out of 182 seats at stake in a bid to get maximum political mileage.

Using yet another former BJP leaders in this game plan, the party has decided to field Yatin Oza in the Maninagar seat, chosen by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Oza was elected to the state assembly twice as the BJP nominee from Sabarmati seat, which he resigned in 2001.

The other seat the Congress party has identified for special treatment is the state capital Gandhinagar, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani's parliamentary constituency.

Gujarat Pradesh (state) Congress Committee president Shankersinh Vaghela, a sitting Lok Sabha member of the Congress party, is another former BJP leader on whom the Congress party is banking heavily to defeat a candidate from his former party.

Vaghela is not among the party candidates, although he has been informally told that the post of chief ministership will be his if he manages to defeat the BJP.

The BJP circles yesterday admitted that Oza at Maninagar is a cause of concern although they believe he can at the most reduce the margin of victory rather than cause a major upset.

While Modi himself wanted to contest from two constituencies - Rajkot II and Maninagar - he was firmly told by the central leadership of the party that doing so will portray him as a shaky leader. He was, however, allowed to change his constituency and opt out of Rajkot II, which he represented for the past six months in the now dissolved assembly.

Not only has the BJP won the Maninagar seat with huge margins during the previous three state polls, Modi during his days in the parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had worked extensively in this constituency, that is now expected to place him in a comfortable position.

The Congress party, however, had an inkling that Modi may shift to Maninagar as it did not name a candidate for this seat straightaway when it announced its first list of 108 candidates on Monday.

Likewise, the party has not named its candidate from Gandhinagar. The party is expected to name its candidates for these two seats in its second list that is expected to be released soon.

The delay, the Congress party says, has been on account of its desire to rope in some other like-minded parties for form a broad-based anti-BJP alliance in the state.

However, while the Samajwadi Party has opted out, talks with the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan is at an advanced stage.