ONI Bureau: PM Narendra Modi just saved the BJP from any major embarrassment! Or, we can say people of Gujarat came to the rescue of their ‘Son of the Soil’ although they were angry and upset with the party and government on various issues. They still preferred to go with Modi, as they trusted him.
Modi had to put all his energy in Gujarat, a state where Congress was fighting a survival battle with most of its leaders and cadres deserting the party. Six months ago, Congress was dubbed as a ‘non entity’ in Gujarat and was tipped to win just 30-35 seats, while BJP was predicted to win 140-150 seats.
However, a political novice Rahul Gandhi managed to cash in on people’s anger as well as got his equations almost right, forcing Modi to step in. When caste factor threatened to cause maximum damage to BJP, Modi took up the challenge. Rural Gujarat gave a thumbs up to Rahul, while Urban Gujarat went with Modi. The divide was bigger in Urban areas, which ensured BJP’s win in the end. It was Congress’ best performance in 27 years.
From 115 in 2012, BJP had to be content with 99 although Amit Shah fixed the target at 150+ and it looked very much possible too 4-5 months ago. The Congress, which won 61 seats in 2012, emerged stronger to win 80 seats this time along with allies.
It was such a difficult election for BJP that Modi had to shed ‘Development Agenda’ in the “Model State” and rake up ‘Religion’, ‘Pakistan’ and ‘Gandhi Family’s past’ to woo the core voters. Whatever, he successfully won it for BJP yet again. Although BJP was out in nervous nineties, it still won the match in style.