Both of them are leaders in their own right: Arun Jaitley, one of the top BJP leaders, is a general secretary in the party while Ahmed Patel, occupying the centrestage of Congress politics for almost a quarter century, is political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

But in Gujarat both of them chose to be backroom boys, formulating the strategy for their organisations’ success in the elections, pulling strings, anticipating the enemy’s next move and countering it, smoothening the rough edges of a surcharged campaign and sneaking out for that mandatory midnight call.

They did appear at a few public meetings, if only to mark their presence, but their real work was off the stage, as master electoral strategists. There was one difference, though. While media savvy Jaitley remained under the arclights, Patel mostly remained off the public glare.

Jaitley, 55, left his legal practice and camped in Gujarat for 19 days, going out only twice. Patel has also been camping here for three weeks, living out of his suitcase and travelling the length and breadth of the state. A registered voter in Ahmedabad, the Delhi lawyer chose to staying at a flat in Judges’ Bungalow Road here. For journalists, he always looked totally relaxed, an amazing quality in the battlefield. But then he is a veteran of many an electoral battle.

If Jaitley was unruffled, Ahmedbhai, as he is known among friends, was a livewire, always on the move and putting in 18 hours per day. Originally from Gujarat—unlike Jaitley who has acquired honourary citizenship—Patel, 57, knows the state like the back of his hand. After all, he started his political career here.

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