The meeting had become something of a ritual in recent weeks, but the agenda was singular every day: take stock of the canvassing of votes in each basti (pocket) in the constituency where the community is present.
The safai kamdars are one small cog in the huge BJP machinery working earnestly to ensure a thumping win for Modi. Ashok Pandey, the BJP city unit general secretary, said more than 45,000 party workers are campaigning in Vadodara.
The BJP has adopted a new model (see A Decentralized Campaign) of campaign this time in Gujarat, apportioning the responsibility of canvassing for votes to a party functionary, ranging from an MP to a mayor to the grassroots worker, based on their domicile.
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The dispersed method of campaign worked wonders for the BJP in the recent elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where it came to power with crushing majorities, and Chhattisgarh, where it survived a strong anti-incumbency wave.
Gordhan Zadafia, a former home minister who quit the BJP to form the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) and is now back in the party, said this is the first time the BJP is handing out the title of a booth leader to grassroots workers.
It would be easy to assume that given the attention to detail and massive assembly of workers, Modi is facing a gruelling fight in Vadodara.
The opposite is true. "We are eyeing the Guinness Book of World Records [for the biggest margin of victory in an election]," said Balkrishna Shukla, the incumbent MP from Vadodara who vacated the seat for Modi. Ram Vilas Paswan, who won from Hajipur in 1977 by 4.24 lakh votes, holds the record.
Eyeing a Record Win
This talk is not bluff and bluster. All the seven assembly constituencies in Vadodara are held by the BJP and the average margin of victory in five was 50,000.
"That already totals a margin of 2 lakh votes," said Shukla. As Vadodara is predominantly an urban constituency — with five such seats — Congress candidate Madhusudhan Mistry, a tribal leader, will not make a dent, he said.
The challenge for the party, according to Pandey, is to get people to the polling booth. The safety of numbers apart, Modi chose Vadodara for strategic reasons too. Of the six parliamentary constituencies in the vicinity of Vadodara, three — Anand, Kheda and Dohad — are held by the Congress.
Chhota Udaipur and Panchmahal, which BJP won in 2009, are vulnerable, according to Shukla. The BJP is hoping Modi in Vadodara will enthuse voters in surrounding constituencies as well.
In Vadodara in particular, and Gujarat in general, the salient theme in this election is Modi's candidature as prime minister. The possibility of a Gujarati having a real chance of getting the top job in the country 37 years after Morarji Desai became prime minister has expectedly enthused voters, according to analysts and politicians.
"The Gujarati asmita [pride] is at work," said Harin Pathak, BJP MP of Ahmedabad East, who was forced by Modi to vacate his seat to actor Paresh Rawal.
"Rawal does not talk about the constituency's problems. Instead, he says vote for Modi as PM," said Pathak.
The second factor the BJP is holding onto in its appeal to voters is Modi's development record. A vote for the BJP, read Modi, will allow the party to continue its good work, it is telling voters.
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