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Two weeks after two elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders faced the ire of local residents of Nikol in Ahmedabad over civic issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public meeting in the same area on Monday (August 25). The crowd may have cheered Modi and rolled out a red-carpet welcome, but beneath the surface, the party may have some real reasons to worry in the upcoming local body polls.

Daskroi MLA Babu Jamnadas Patel and Councillor Baldev Patel were stopped and gheraoed on August 12 by protesters, who alleged that public representatives had no time to resolve local issues and were only concerned about elections.

What would be more concerning for the BJP, which is close to three decades in power in Gujarat, is that Nikol and its neighbouring areas in eastern Ahmedabad, such as Thakkarbapanagar, Daskroi and Vastral, are dominated by Patels from Saurashtra, known to be strong supporters of the party. The civic polls in Ahmedabad are not far, and that would make the ruling party more uncomfortable.

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Residents’ growing frustration with BJP

Residents have become disgruntled with the BJP over issues such as bad roads, irregular water supply and clogged drains for more than a year. They want the PM to see the state of affairs and how his own party members are performing.

“Even if it rains for half an hour, the roads from Nikol to Thakkarbapanagar are flooded and the drains overflow for days. Roads are riddled with potholes throughout the year. Last month, a school van carrying students toppled over one of the potholes, injuring four kids. PM Modi should meet us and know our issues,” said 64-year-old Babubhai Patel, a resident of Nikol who waited to have a glimpse of Modi.

“He should also know how his party’s MLA is faring in his constituency,” he said, referring to MLA Patel.

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“If the roads could be repaired within a week. Then why wasn’t it repaired for over a year despite residents raising several complaints? People only matter to the BJP head of an election, and then they forget us,” Patel added.

Quick patchwork ahead of PM’s visit

Noticeably, over the last week, officials of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) worked overnight to fill the potholes, clean the drains and repair roads in Nikol amid rain.

Even ahead of the prime minister’s visit, a divider along a five-kilometre stretch has been freshly painted. A new road has been constructed from Khodiyar Temple to Shukan Chokdi in Nikol, along the route of Modi’s road show on August 25. Even the internal roads in Nikol have been repaired within a week.

The civic body also ensured that private residential and commercial buildings along the road in Nikol also received fresh coats of paint. Safety nets and lights were also installed on the exterior.

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Ramnikbhai Gajera, a 43-year-old resident of Nikol, said the last time they saw roads getting repaired at such a brisk pace was in 2017 when Modi held a rally in Nikol.

“Otherwise, development is restricted to the posh areas of Ahmedabad only. The AMC rushes with a water pump if there is waterlogging in areas such as Prahladnagar, Bodakdev and Judges Bungalow. This side of Ahmedabad is always neglected despite us voting for the BJP time and again.”

Modi’s third visit in as many months

Modi’s latest visit to Ahmedabad is the third in as many months. Admitting that they were witnessing discontent against BJP MLAs in constituencies in eastern Ahmedabad, such as Naroda, Nikol and Vastral, a party leader from Ahmedabad said it was happening at a time when the Gujarat BJP was also staring at a change of leadership.

He said CR Patil, a Union minister now, has been distancing himself from state politics since he is on an extension as the Gujarat BJP chief.

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The leader conceded that the areas where public resentment is evident are important for the party, as they are predominantly dominated by Patidars from the Saurashtra region, and whatever happens in Nikol would likely be echoed in Saurashtra.

He said in such a situation, nothing could have been better than the prime minister himself assuring people that they would not be treated unfairly.

“Prime Minister Modi’s presence solves all problems. He has that hold on the people of Gujarat,” he added.

BJP facing public ire in other places too

However, Ahmedabad is not the only place where BJP MLAs have been at the receiving end of public ire.

Earlier in August, local people stormed the office of the BJP’s Dhrangadhra MLA Prakash Varmora. The leader was confronted by angry residents over alleged apathy toward civic issues in the constituency.

In a video that went viral on social media, an angry person was seen telling the MP who was gheraoed, “Jo tame aam kam chalu rakhsho to Visavadar jevi har tamari rah joshe (if you keep working like this, a defeat like Visavadar awaits). The BJP lost this year’s by-election in Visavadar, a constituency it has failed to win since 2007.

In the last week of July, a huge protest had erupted in Manavadar constituency of Junagadh district against the sitting MLA, Arvind Ladani, also from the BJP. He was accused of shielding the real operators of illegal gambling dens while innocent people got arrested.

The same month, several local corporators refused to attend a meeting called by BJP MLA Hardik Patel in Viramgam, his constituency.

Later, they expressed their frustration in a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over the delay in the construction of a stormwater drainage and an 11kV underground power line project. As per the letter, both projects were awaiting the release of funds from the MLALAD (Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development) fund.

“At least 50 BJP MLAs across central Gujarat and Saurashtra are having a difficult time in their respective constituencies. There have been protests and complaints against them from locals as well as party members. PM Modi will be meeting these leaders in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at Shree Kamalam, the party headquarters in Gandhinagar tonight,” said a senior BJP leader from Gandhinagar.

Opposition members, activists detained

Meanwhile, ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ahmedabad, 20 people, including human rights activists, post-holding members of the Congress and those from the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the party’s student body, were detained at various police stations across Ahmedabad.

It was reported that the detainees would be released on Tuesday (August 26) evening, after Modi departs from the state.

Sonal Patel, Congress’s Ahmedabad district president, Congress leaders Hemang Raval and Prithviraj Kathavadiya, Gujarat Congress’s Scheduled Caste cell president Hiten Pithadiya, human rights activist and member of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch Dixit Soni, and Aam Aadmi Party leader Jagdish Chavda were detained on Monday morning.

“Police arrived at my house and asked me to accompany them to Navrangpura Police Station without any warrant. One of the constables told me that I am being detained so that I can’t raise slogans of ‘vote chori’ while Modi is in Ahmedabad,” Kathavadiya said.

Several NSUI leaders were detained around 2 pm for protesting at Ahmedabad’s Vatva area while shouting slogans and showing black flags to protest the Congress leaders’ detention.

“In Gujarat, the police under the BJP don’t take action against criminals but arrest Opposition leaders ahead of the prime minister’s visit. That’s how much the BJP is scared of public voices and protests,” said Amit Chavda, president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.

He said their party leaders had been detained at their homes without any legal procedure, and they would move the high court.