The Narendra Modi juggernaut has rolled through Gujarat, securing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader a third term as chief minister. But the Congress has levelled the Assembly poll score 1-1 by wresting Himachal Pradesh from BJP. In Gujarat, while BJP bagged 115 seats, two less than its 2007 tally, while the Congress improved its show by two seats, winning 61.
It was Modi’s win — a victory for the Gujarat strongman who swept the entire Congress brass away. He won the Maninagar seat, where his closest opponent was the Congress’ Shweta Bhatt, by more than 80,000 votes — an astounding margin for an Assembly election.
After the results, indicating he was ready for bigger things, addressing his supporters in Hindi rather than Gujarati, Modi said: “Gujarat voters have proved people make their choice based on development and progress... Politics of divide and rule has been defeated.” He added: “If I have made a mistake, I ask my 60 million Gujarati brothers and sisters for forgiveness.” He also said he would visit Delhi on December 27 for a day.
| ASSEMBLY MANDATE Gujarat 182/182 | ||||||
| BJP | INC | NCP | GPP | Ind | JD(U) | |
| 2012 | 115 | 61 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | 117 | 59 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 |
This victory seems to have upped the stakes in the leadership battle raging in BJP between Modi and party president Nitin Gadkari, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh watching uneasily.
| Himachal Pradesh 68/68 |
|
36 |
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Others
GPP: Gujarat Parivartan Party,
JD(U): Janta Dal (United), Ind: Independent
On the other hand, the Himachal Pradesh victory has sparked off a tug of war within the Congress between the factions of Virbhadra Singh and Vidya Stokes, each claiming credit for the win. The Congress high command is said to be in Stokes’ favour.
Government managers say it is unlikely that a reversal in the hill state would cool the Opposition at the Centre and make it help the government pass the Food Security Bill, or other key Bills, in the next Parliament session. On the contrary, they predict, the force configuration now would be such that the government would be under greater pressure in the Budget session.
Two important signals point to this. First, Sharad Pawar, chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a Congress ally, has congratulated Modi warmly, saying the result has proved a state government’s performance is paramount for winning elections. His statement clearly contradicts the Congress’ position that there has been little or no development in Gujarat. NCP’s Gujarat unit, too, has attacked the Congress.
Second, there has been complete silence on the part of the Samajwadi Party (SP), which may be calculating how it could leverage the consolidation of Hindus under Modi for its own advantage, offering itself as the sole representative of the Muslims and eliminating the Congress from the equation.
Another party that relies on the Muslim vote, the Janata Dal United, congratulated alliance partner Modi, even as it maintained Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would make a better prime minister.
Some key UPA members highlight the Congress’ dilemma, saying Modi’s victory signals the rise of state-centric forces. They say his election has established “good governance is the only way to win elections. If corruption had been an issue, the Congress wouldn’t have won Himachal Pradesh. Its leader in the state, Virbhadra Singh, had to resign from the Union Cabinet just six months ago following corruption charges”.
BJP did not stint on Modi praise. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said: “He is extremely popular, both within the party and with the people. His views are always taken seriously. This is the fifth straight victory for BJP in Gujarat and third under Modi.”
But, on probing, a BJP leader said: “People of Gujarat have voted for him as a prime ministerial candidate. Most party leaders had said during campaigning he was one of the most promising contenders for the post. But the final decision would be taken after discussing the issue with other alliance partners.”
