Gujarat got lesser representation in the Narendra Modi Cabinet. However, his choice of the only lok Sabha member from Gujarat — Mansukh Vasava — five time MP from Bharuch constituency, would further strengthen BJP’s position in the State’s 500 sq km long tribal belt.
Technically, the Prime Minister, two Cabinet Ministers and one Minister of State (MoS) are from Gujarat in the Modi Ministry. Though, Cabinet Ministers Arun Jaitley and Smriti Irani have been elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, they both do not belong to the State. Hence, Vasava, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs is the only Minister in the Modi Cabinet.
Gujarat has given all 26 lok Sabha seats to the BJP but Modi selected Vasava over others. This is a significant victory given the fact that the Bharuch constituency has been the fort of Ahmed Patel, the political adviser to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, though it is another matter, Patel has not been able to get his candidate win from here in the last five terms.
Patel, who used to have the final say in deciding all Congress election candidates through the years, this year had reportedly been asked to get a winner from Bharuch, his home district. For the first time, he chose a Hindu Patel candidate, Jayesh Patel, who also lost to Vasava.
This is a tactical decision given the fact that the BJP has been able to make only marginal inroads in Gujarat’s tribal belt largely controlled by the Congress. The BJP might have picked the tribal seats this time because of Modi being the prime ministerial candidate, but past elections show otherwise.
It was only twice, first in 1999 when BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed the Government at the Centre and in 2002 in the backdrop of communal riots, that the party overpowered the Congress in the tribal belt.
The BJP won all the four Scheduled Tribe reserved seats during the 1999 lok Sabha elections, which was one up on 1998. In the 2002, Assembly elections, the BJP won 13 tribal seats from a total of 26 (after delimitation, the total is 27), up from eight in 1998. During the last two lok Sabha and State Assembly elections between 2004 and 2012, the BJP fell behind the Congress in its vote share.
Modi understands the ground scenario and this is why, say analysts, he has picked up a tribal, Vasava, and that too from the home district of Ahmed Patel to include in his Ministry as a Minister of State. It is vital for Modi to retain his grip over Gujarat and the tribal region is crucial for this purpose.