In meeting after meeting with rebel BJP leaders, local Congress leaders had insisted and agreed that the 2002 riots will be kept out of the campaign agenda. They did not want to commit the “mistakes” of the last Assembly election. But somewhere along the way, the plot changed.

Local leaders said that caste and community equations they had so diligently worked on evaporated as the campaign unfolded. The focus on tribal and farmers’ issues remained but Sonia Gandhi’s “merchants of death” and Digvijay Singh’s “Hindu terrorism” remarks overshadowed everything else. Then came Manmohan Singh’s reference to the post-Godhra riots saying if there were valid grievances, the Congress, if it came to power, would look into it. This promptly played out as the Congress’s “threat” to re-open riot cases. As Modi told The Indian Express during the campaign: “They gave a weapon in my hands.” By daring the PM to “arrest me tomorrow if he wishes,” Modi struck a chord and revived the 2002 emotions, say local leaders.

At the deserted AICC headquarters this morning, early trends indicated a flicker of hope — an exultant PCC chief Bharatsinh Solanki, encouraged by a TV anchor, even began thanking Ahmed Patel and Shankersinh Vaghela for their support towards a triumph — but within an hour, it was a shaken General Secretary in charge of Gujarat B K Hari Prasad walking into the party headquarters.

“Madam Gandhi and Rahulji attracted lakhs of people in their public meetings. It was our fault that we could not convert them into votes,” Prasad said, owning “all responsibility” for the defeat.

... contd.