With the Bharatiya Janata Party set to come close to a 2/3rd majority in Gujarat yet again, senior leaders of the party believe that adversaries like Keshubhai Patel and Congress party could not damage the development wave in favour of Narendra Modi.
Senior BJP leaders admit that the party thought that it would lose at least 10 seats in Saurashtra region because of Keshubhai Patel but people have voted in favour of the chief minister. BJP was leading in 118 seats.
“We were worried that we will lose at least 10 seats in Saurashtra but we have done considerably well and if this trend continues then we will cross 120. There are some pockets in Kutch areas where we have lost some seats but that is due to local issues,” said Harin Pathak, senior leader of BJP in Gujarat.
Pathak elaborated that most of the senior leaders of Congress party, including Arjun Modhwadia, the leader of opposition, had lost the election so BJP didn’t have any challenge from the congress party.
Senior leaders of BJP in Gujarat also said that apart from the issues of development and good governance, the victory for Modi is also significant because it is for the first time since 2002 that the Gujarat chief minister was facing attacks from three sides, which included Keshubhai Patel, Congress party and more so from the local unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“Narendra Modi was fighting alone against Congress party, a section of the RSS and Keshubhai Patel and yet he has done well. This victory is significant because has not only managed to win but has been able to retain the 2/3rd majority,” said a senior BJP leader close to Modi.
However, even after a considerable victory for Modi, BJP leaders are yet not committing if he would get a major role at the centre.
“Narendra Modi has always been an important leader in the BJP. We are not a dynastic party which is led by a Yuvaraj. We function in a pure democratic fashion,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, chief spokesperson of BJP.