The election carnival is upon us this Puja season. Running parallel with the Navratris, Eid, Deepawali, Gurupurab, and other festivities during the Ashwin and Kartik lunar months, is the campaigning for assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Speeches by candidates will be analysed for content and delivery. The crowd sizes of political rallies will be compared. Body language of national leaders will indicate their comfort levels with local candidates, and with their coalition partners. It is not just the poll results. A lot more is at stake here.

Even before the Election Commission announced the dates for the Gujarat elections last week, it was a foregone conclusion that Gujarat is going to be easy-peasy for Narendra Modi. Oh oops! I meant for the BJP. The Congress party can make tall claims about rebellion in the ranks of the BJP and the rumblings of revolt against Modi’s autocratic style, but the fact is that people do want more of the same. It may be difficult for many in Lutyen’s Delhi to comprehend, but if that is what Gujarat wants then that is what Gujarat will get.