Gyanshakti and ‘Write for Unity’: Two Examples of Electoral Campaign by ‘Other’ Means

We are writing this in the context of the frenetic campaign that was conducted before and during the general elections. Since at least one major contestant party has tried to controvert an exercise of parliamentary elections into an individual-centric, quasi-presidential contest, many commentators and concerned citizens have been forced to pay closer attention to the claims being made by him and on his behalf. Not that we have been tasked with a difficult exercise, since a range of actors and agencies, at an unprecedented pitch, both subtly and blatantly, and in unexpected fora, have been diligently busy in furthering the campaign for the Saviour. This is the explanation for the present analysis which has almost been forced upon us by the sheer shrillness and unabashedness of the campaign claims which project Gujarat as the model of development.