The BJP in Gujarat made an impressive victory wresting all the six seats from Congress on which by-poll was conducted on Sunday. Two parliamentary seats – Porbandar, Banaskantha – and four assembly seats – Limbdi, Morva Hadaf, Jetpur and Dhoraji – were all swept by BJP candidates. While Congress leaders had given up on winning the Saurashtra seats following defection of Patel strongman Vitthal Radadia, it had still pinned its hopes on Banaskantha and Morva Hadaf till late evening, which too, however, went the other way.
As for Narendra Modi, these victories provide the perfect impetus in his battle to the top of national BJP. These results coming on a day when the Gujarat CM was in New Delhi hounded by media, followed by BJP’s national executive meet in Goa starting today, are the best antidote to yet again assert his popularity – in Gujarat at least.
The four seats of Saurashtra were dictated by caste politics, especially after heavy-headed Radadia left Congress with a large coterie of supporters. The results prove that caste politics continue to dominate elections. Most parts of Saurashtra, certainly the seats that polled on Sunday, suffer from severe water crisis, which has in natural progression led to rise in crime rate in the region. Congress candidates, though relatively low-profile, contested mainly on these issues, but failed to bring in the votes. Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela said BJP had used every trick in the book to win these polls. “BJP used the state administration for bogus voting on all seats by antisocial elements. They intimidated Congress voters to refrain from voting,” he said.
BJP’s statement quoting Modi was significant in the sense that its victory statement made no mention of local issues but all about 2014 Lok Sabha elections and criticizing the UPA government. “This rejection is a message that people are unhappy with the UPA government,” it said.
Congress president Arjun Modhwadia said, “We fought on the issues of water crisis and Modi government’s false and hyped promises. It is unfortunate we were unable to covert their angst into votes in our favour.”
@dnaahmedabad
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