While UP, the most populous state, remains politically most crucial for the BJP, Gujarat is equally important for personal reasons. Modi is considered as the most successful chief minister that Gujarat ever had, and also among the most dynamic that the country has seen. “A defeat in Gujarat will really hurt the BJP. And especially after the scare that the Congress gave the BJP in the last elections, the BJP cannot afford to take its eyes off the ball where Gujarat is concerned,” says a party general secretary.