BJP repeats 2014 show in Gujarat, Cong crumbles

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has once again stunned the Congress by winning all the 26 seats in Gujarat, leaving the grand old party high and dry.

The Congress, as well as political analysts, were expecting the party to win at least four to five seats this time. While there was an eerie silence in the Congress office, the BJP leaders were left amazed by the performance.

“Honestly, we thought we would lose at least four to five seats in Saurashtra, central and north Gujarat.

There was strong undercurrent against our party.

The Congress failed to utilise it and couldn’t turn the discontentment to votes. I believe that the last couple of days’ rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the result in our favour.

The way he invoked Gujarati pride and security of nation worked again for us,” said a senior BJP leader.

The Congress had strategically fielded its candidates and chosen seven sitting MLAs for Lok Sabha polls that included leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani.

However, nothing clicked. Apart from Dhanani, former Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki — both of whom were expected to win — lost the polls, too.

Plan backfires

The party’s calculation of winning the polls based on the results of 2017 Assembly elections backfired, proving yet again that voters behave differently
in Assembly and general elections.

In the 2017 Gujarat assembly, the BJP could get only 99 seats, while Congress managed to win 77 seats.

This had energised the Congress in the state and there was a hope that it could give the BJP a tough fight.

Its star campaigner, Patidar leader Hardik Patel also couldn’t change the fortune of the party.

While popular OBC leader Alpesh Thakor left the party in the peak of campaigning, independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani was hardly present during the campaign. This troika, which gave much hope to Congress in the Assembly polls, couldn’t damage the rival at all.

Advani’s place

The BJP, on the other hand, didn’t give tickets to more than a dozen sitting parliamentarians and chose several new faces. Party president Amit Shah’s move to contest from Gandhinagar seat, in place of veteran leader L K Advani, also paid off as it instilled confidence among the party line.

He won with a record margin, surpassing the 4.83 lakh vote record of Advani.

The BJP has also improved its vote share from the previous election.

During the campaign, BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, kept invoking national security and dubbed everyone “Pakistani” who questioned the Balakot air strike.

The BJP also thrived on the popularity of its “son of soil”, Narendra Modi, projecting him as a decisive and strong leader India needed.

The party strategically brought Modi to campaign in Gujarat.

The prime minister started his campaign from Saurashtra and covered south and central Gujarat and ended it in north Gujarat.

Most of his rallies were held in rural areas where farmers were upset due to farm crisis.