In this triangular fight that upends the state’s two-party polity, the BJP is banking on Brand Modi, Congress on grassroots workers and the AAP on a narrative of change. The outcome will hinge on how much of Congress’s votes shift to the AAP
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Just before the 1989 general elections, when the Congress still ruled most of India, a young Narendra Modi, then a relatively unknown party apparatchik in the Gujarat unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), called his then party president, LK Advani. He was opposing a seat-sharing pact in the state between the party and Chimanbhai Patel’s Janata Dal. Rajiv Gandhi’s India was in ferment, a national election beckoned, and the rules of Indian politics were being redrawn. “We should fight alone,” pleaded the young party secretary from Ahmedabad. Advani refused. ….
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This article was first published on HT | Nov 21, 2022