BJP cruises to wins in Morbi and Godhra despite bridge collapse tragedy, Bilkis Bano verdict

The BJP on Thursday scripted history by coming to power for a seventh consecutive term in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.

Long a BJP bastion, the result of the Assembly election in the western state was hardly a surprise.

What perhaps came as a surprise, however, was the BJP's strong show in both Morbi, the site of a terrible tragedy, and communally-sensitive Godhra.

Barely a month before Gujarat went to the polls, a historic bridge collapsed in Morbi, leaving 135 people dead. The tragedy left the BJP in a spot: while clockmaker Ajanta Group was directly responsible for the negligence-driven collapse, the Gujarat government's indirect involvement in the tragedy, vis-a-vis the awarding of the contract to Ajanta, left many outraged.

The outrage, some had hoped, would put a dent in the BJP's electoral performance in Morbi, a stronghold for the saffron party.

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Those hopes, however, were shattered in dramatic fashion on Thursday as the BJP's candidate cruised to victory in Morbi with a margin of 62,079 votes.

The win in Morbi, perhaps more than anything, was driven by a smart move by the BJP.

As videos emerged of its leader, Amruitya Kantilal Shivlal, diving into the river to rescue the victims of the bridge collapse, the BJP replaced its sitting MLA in Morbi, Brijesh Merja, and fielded 'Morbi's hero' instead.

The result? A resounding victory.

Godhra was perhaps a more straightforward win than Morbi, although the furore over the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case raised questions about whether the saffron party would be able to retain its seat.

However, the backlash over the release of the convicts did not deter the BJP, which fought fire with fire, commending the actions of the Narendra Modi-led state government during the 2002 riots.

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In the run-up to the polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that Congress governments in Gujarat had "sheltered" anti-social elements who, under the BJP, were "taught a lesson" in 2002.

"Tell me if during Congress rule, communal violence used to happen or not. Even in 2002, during Narendrabhai’s [Modi, then-chief minister] time, there was an attempt, but they were taught such a lesson that since then state hasn’t witnessed a single communal violence. Those who were indulged in the rioting were ousted and BJP established peace and curfew-less Gujarat," Shah had said at an election rally wherein his comments were greeted by thunderous applause.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, one of the BJP's star campaigners this time around, had echoed the same: in an interview with DH, Sarma had said, "A lot of the matters pertaining to the 2002 Godhra riots are in the courts. You may have seen the recent SC decision on PM Modi. Our stand is being vindicated. I will leave the issue at that. But 2002 was definitely a turning point for Gujarat. The image of Gujarat is now one of development, devoid of any conflict. The party will always remember 2002 as a year that created a complete turnaround in Gujarat."

Against this backdrop, the BJP had fielded C K Raulji from Godhra: while Raulji had been representing Godhra for the Congress since 2007, he had switched to the BJP in 2017 and had managed to win the seat by the skin of his teeth, with a margin of just 258 votes.

This time, however, despite expected setbacks to the BJP, Raulji roared to victory, defeating the Congress' candidate by a margin of 35,198 votes.