Friday, August 31, 2012

DANCE Of DEMOCRACY GUJARAT 2 0 1 2

BJP says tauba, tauba to Koba headquarters
Sticks To 'Lucky' Khanpur Office For Coming Assembly Polls 

The BJP in Gujarat is developing cold feet on moving into a new, swanky state headquarters at Koba on the outskirts of the city. Superstition is preventing the ruling party from moving out of its dingy office in Khanpur, which has been its address since 1988.
    While the building could have been readied for occupation by now, the deep reservations on the move have led to slackening of pace of construction in recent months. Most feel it is not a good idea to shift the headquarters to the new building before the assembly elections due in December this year.
    The reason is simple: since 1988, the existing office has proved lucky for the BJP as it has not lost a single assembly election. The Khanpur office was acquired by Shankersinh Vaghela when he was the BJP president.
    Significantly, the Congress has seen its political fortunes nose-dive ever since it got the state headquarters in Paldi demolished and re-built over 10 years back. The building was refurbished last year.
    The BJP acquired a plot measuring 12,000 square yards about five years back and got it registered in the name of Kamalam Trust, which is controlled by the state unit. A welldesigned plan, which included two auditoriums, a conference hall and amphitheatre, was finalised by chief minister Narendra Modi a couple of years back.
    Construction started at a furious pace in early 2011 and the idea was to have it ready for the next elections. But everyone, including Modi, now feel apprehensive about moving out of Khanpur. Insiders say the pace of construction had been deliberately slowed down because there is no pressure of deadline now.