<b>Guj verdict</b>: Cong stunned, smarting

Narendra Modi's impressive show in the Gujarat Assembly elections today stunned the Congress amidst a debate on whether its president Sonia Gandhi's "liars and merchants of death" remarks were a Himalayan blunder.

There was a mixed response in the party to the famous remarks of Gandhi in the midst of campaign in Navsari whether they went against it.

Shankarsinh Vaghela, a former BJP leader and one of the key campaigners of the Congress, told PTI the BJP's "excessive reaction" to the remarks did benefit the party as Modi raked up the Sohrabuddin encounter issue like he did the "Mian Musharraf" plank in 2002.

Vaghela, as also party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha Madhusudan Mistry, conceded that Modi succeeded in playing the communal card by making an issue out of a non-issue and also talked about Gujarati pride, while the Congress made efforts to stick to the development plank.

However, Kapil Sibal does not appear to be in agreement with this view.

"The truth has to be told. We have to fight it upfront. Democracy is not about winning or losing a state election... Modi is something that Congress abhors," he said.

Vaghela said: "It is a fact that our argument did not work and their's worked."