Modi sweeps Gujarat

A new year gift for the people of Gujarat: CII

Beating back incumbency handicaps, the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat posted a convincing Assembly election victory with voters acknowledging good economics but endorsing illiberal politics.

The BJP won 117 seats out of 182, dipping slightly from its earlier figures of 127. 
 

BACK WITH A BANG
Total seats in the Gujarat Assembly	182
BJP
2007	117
2002	127
Congress+
2007	62
2002	51
Independents and others
2007	3
2002	4

The new government with Narendra Modi, as chief minister will take oath on December 27.

Modi won by a margin of over 86,000 votes from his Maninagar constituency, defeating Dinsha Patel of the Congress. Patel is minister of state for petroleum and natural gas in the United Progressive Alliance government at the centre.

Most industrialists when contacted declined to comment on the BJP's emphatic victory. However, Paru Jaykrushna, president, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), said "This is a positive vote. Obviously, the people of Gujarat have bought the development theory. If the people had not have been satisfied with the state government's performance, they would have voted it out."

"We could not have expected a better new year gift for the people of Gujarat. The next five years will be fantastic for the state under the new government, which seems to have an inclusive growth agenda," said Chetan Tamboli, managing director of Steelcast Ltd, and chairman of the Gujarat chapter of the Confederation of Indian industry.

He says the CII expects a 25 per cent increase in the state's per capita income.

The BJP's performance "" both regional and overall "" was a surprise. It lost seats in areas hit by the 2002 riots in Central Gujarat. While the Congress has got nearly 22 seats, the BJP has got 18, which is 20 seats down from the 2002 elections.

However, the BJP performed well in Saurashtra, held earlier by those who had walked away from the party in protest against Modi's "fascist" tendencies.

Some of these "rebels" were given Congress nominations but were rejected resoundingly "" all but one rebel lost.

Saurashtra and Kutch comprise 58 seats. In 2002, the BJP had swept the area, getting 39 out of the 58 seats. This time the BJP has won 43.

The BJP's biggest regional defeat came from the tribal areas like Dahod, suggesting that it was indeed the governance factor that had ruled in this election "" as tribal village after tribal village rejected the BJP during the campaign.

The principal complaint from this community was that no development had taken place in these areas.

In 2002, emotion caused the tribal regions to swing massively in favour of the BJP. But after that, the only development that took place in these regions was the RSS's temple-building programme.

Also, the Congress received massive support from the Muslims in these areas.

The victory led BJP leaders like L K Advani and Arun Jaitley to conclude that it was Modi's governance campaign that contributed to the result.

"In 2002, our critics attributed the BJP's victory in the state to Godhra-related incidents. It was, of course, not true. By winning a renewed mandate in 2007, my party has conclusively shown that the people of Gujarat have voted for good governance, development and a leadership that delivers," Advani said.

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