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| Results of assembly elections in Gujarat to impact national political scene | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 20: Results of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are out. The Congress has won in HP and got just one seat more than the required magic figure. It could be described as a victory by default in the sense that it was the election strategists of the BJP who handed over the state to the Congress on a platter. Had the BJP contained dissidence in the party and accommodated the potential rebels within the party, it would have retained control over the state power. It would not be out of place to mention here that while four of the BJP rebel candidates have won, at least half a dozen of other rebel candidates marred the electoral prospects of the party. Besides, not-the-so-cordial relations between the outgoing Chief Minister and the former Chief Minister, presently national BJP president and Member of Rajya Sabha, also marred the victory chances of the party. The BJP has won 26 seats in the 68-member assembly and its leadership is responsible for defeat of the party which could otherwise had registered second victory in a row. It is time for the BJP leadership both in HP and 11 Ashoka Road to bemoan for converting its victory into a defeat and retrospect. All this is not to undermine the victory of the Congress. Victory is victory and it has to be recognized as such.
It is Gujarat where the BJP under the very effective and highly skillful leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Bhai Modi has scored a spectacular victory for the third time in row. It won almost two-third majority. It won 116 seats in the 182-member House, one less than the last time. It was a splendid victory in the sense that the BJP fought these elections against heavy odds: The Congress did all that it could to dislodge the BJP from power. The BJP has been ruling Gujarat since 1991 without any break. It was not only the Congress, which carried on a no-holds-barred campaign against the BJP in general and Modi in particular for almost 45 days through paid advertisements and through almost all the private TV news channels and moved heaven and earth to recapture political power in the state and cut Modi to size. Former BJP veteran and Gujarat Chief Minister Kesubhai Patel and his newly-founded Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) campaigned extensively across the state to ensure the defeat of Modi and the BJP. Kesubhai Patel had considerable influence over the social group to which he belongs. His party could win only two seats but the presence of its candidates in all other constituencies helped the Congress party to a considerable extent. As a result, the Congress, which would have fared very badly, could increase its tally by one seat. It is a different story that the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president and the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the assembly suffered a massive defeat. It is also a different story that the people of the region (Hindus and Muslims) to which AICC general secretary and political secretary to Sonia Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, belongs completely decimated the Congress party. Ahmed Patel is considered very powerful in the party after Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. He campaigned in that region and other parts of the state, but with no result.
Besides, the Congress and Kesubhai, certain wings of the RSS, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal (BD) and Bharatiya Kissan Union (BKU), and a number of commentators worked day and night to ensure the defeat of Modi. The fact is that several forces worked overtly and covertly against Modi and the BJP but failed in their decimate-Modi-Mission.
Now that Modi has come out with flying colours, it is almost certain that his resounding victory would impact the national political scene. There is the strong possibility of Modi leading the party from the front in the next general elections. If it all happens, it would become very difficult for the Congress to prevent Modi from capturing the top position in the country. Modi is, it must be said, likely to become a rallying point in the coming days. |
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