The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) of Chotu Vasava has also announced an alliance with the AAP to give a fight to the Congress for tribal votes.ДЄIMIM chief Owaisi recently visited some Muslim-dominated constituencies in Ahmedabad, Vadgam in north Gujarat and Kutch with an aim to woo the minority community. The AAP is eyeing to cut into the Congress's vote share to challenge the BJP, as it had done in Delhi.

The other challenge before the Congress is contenders like the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Asaduddin Owaisi headed All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which are also 'vying for a pie of the traditional Congress vote bank,' he said.ДЄLSO READ | Maharashtra: Hit by cross-voting in Council polls, absenteeism during trust vote, Congress orders probeДЄAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, during his recent campaign rallies in Gujarat, targeted the Congress by appealing to voters not to waste their votes on the opposition party, claiming it cannot defeat the BJP. 'The Congress has a problem of depleting party work force and infighting, among others issues,'В he said. The Congress strongholds of north Gujarat and some tribal region have also been breached as many of its strong leaders have crossed over to the BJP in the last five years. 'So, the Congress's plan to make inroads into the state's urban areas is not likely to make much headway,'В he said. The rural population now has nothing to complain about,' Samani said.ДЄlso, the urban middle class and higher middle class voters have stood firmly behind the BJP due to various reasons, including Hindutva, despite the rising inflation, he said. In the last five years, the BJP government in the state purchased every farm produce, including commercial crops like groundnut, by paying a reasonably good return as the Minimum Support Price (MSP). 'The farming community was not happy as it was not getting a good price for crop produce. The BJP had won 99 seats in the Assembly in the last election. In 2017, the Congress won 77 seats in the 182-member Assembly, and a high vote share, largely due to rural distress, he said.

'This will be one of the toughest election for the Congress in Gujarat,' Rajkot-based political observer Suresh Samani told PTI, noting the party has not won the state Assembly polls since 1995. However, a state Congress spokesperson claimed people will vote for their party, in the Gujarat elections due later this year, as they are fed up of the BJP's 'misrule' for over two decades.Д«ut, political observers feel the Congress is plagued by a dearth of strong local leaders, infighting and depleting work force in the state.

Photo crop challenge