Let the gloating begin

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s poor performance in the crucial by-polls to 33 Assembly seats saw the Opposition Congress grab the opportunity to take a swipe at the ruling party's poster boy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said smugly, "The by-poll results coincide with Mr Modi's first visit to Gujarat, his home state after becoming prime minister. Obviously, the results are not a good omen for his visit." Other Congressmen made much of the fact that the BJP could not fulfil Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's wish of gifting Narendra Modi a 9-0 victory in the state for his birthday since the Congress, unexpectedly, wrested three seats from the BJP in that state.