With Modi wave, BJP breaks Gujarat record

Congress reduced to 17 seats, AAP expands its presence

GN Bureau | December 8, 2022


#Narendra Modi   #Elections   #Gujarat   #BJP   #Congress   #AAP  
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, state party unit president C. R. Paatil and other leaders at the state party office in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, state party unit president C. R. Paatil and other leaders at the state party office in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1998, and the state proved to be its springboard for the national sweep in 2014. Yet, it never came even close to the highest tally of 149 seats (out of the total 182) that the Congress had recorded in 1985. This time it has finally broken past the 150-mark, aided by an unusual and surprising Modi wave. This has reduced the Congress to a measly 17 seats (at the time of writing). The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won only five seats, but given the context, it looks like an achievement. This will help it get the ‘national party’ tag too.

After the voting on December 1 and 5, in the counting Thursday, the BJP had won 147 seats and was leading on 9 by 7 p.m. Its vote share too finally crossed the half-way mark, at 52.5%. The Congress and AAP secured 27.3% and 12.9%, respectively, which is a new low for the former and a significant number for the latter.

After the low of only 99 seats in the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP took no chances and made all possible efforts to ensure a convincing victory this time. It changed the chief minister and the entire cabinet last year and deployed fresh candidates in order to overcome any anti-incumbency. Prime minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah not only campaigned extensively from early on but also micro-managed the entire electioneering.

When the voting remained on the lower side – down to 64.33% after 68% in 2017 and 71% in 2012, analysts declared the elections were without any wave and there appeared no overriding issues to enthuse voters. The result, however, was beyond the party’s own claims and exit polls projections.

During campaign, many issues did crop up – from inflation and unemployment to alleged loopholes in governance, most recently exemplified by the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy. The overwhelming support for the BJP in general and for the PM in particular, is interpreted as the voters’ support for Modi’s work at the national level.

The party has indicated Bhupendra Patel will continue as the chief minister, and the new cabinet will take the oath of office on December 12.

For the Congress, it was a forgettable election. Its top leaders largely avoided campaigning in the state. The AAP, which first contested assembly elections in the state in 2017, was a looming factor. The vote share figures possibly indicate how much damage Kejriwal’s party has done to the grand old party.

The two, however, had their share of good news elsewhere. In the fiercely contested Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, the AAP finally unseated the BJP on Wednesday, strengthening its grip on the capital. The Congress managed to unseat the BJP from the crucial state of Himachal Pradesh in Thursday’s results.
   
As 2022 ends, the BJP has delivered an exceptional performance in two critical states – Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The coming year will see assembly contests in notable states, setting the stage for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
 
 

Comments

 

Other News

Domestic airlines show 38.27% growth in passenger numbers

The domestic aviation industry has witnessed a remarkable surge in passenger traffic during the first eight months of 2023. According to the latest data analysis, the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines from January to August 2023 reached an impressive 1190.62 lakhs, marking a substantial inc

MPs bid adieu to historic parliament building, step into new building

A function was organised in the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday to commemorate the rich legacy of the Parliament of India as the Members came together to bid adieu to the historical building before stepping into the New Building of Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha sp

Real action, not words alone, needed to achieve UN agenda 2030: civil society

As politicians and policymakers make speeches at the United Nations during a high-level summit next week to assess the lack of progress on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), people’s leaders representing some of the world’s most marginalised communities have come toge

Fourth GPFI G20 meeting pledges to work for universal financial inclusion

The fourth G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting held in Mumbai during September 14-16 concluded with members agreeing to work towards the vision of universal financial inclusion under the new G20 Financial Inclusion Action Plan. Over the course of three days, discuss

Tales of Mother Nature, tales of ruin and of rejuvenation

Marginlands: Indian Landscape on the Brink By Arati Kumari-Rao Picador India, 256 pages, Rs 699 This monsoon, Him

TRAI releases paper on `Digital Inclusion in the Era of Emerging Technologies`

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Thursday released a Consultation Paper (CP) on `Digital Inclusion in the Era of Emerging Technologies`, aiming to explore and address the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advancement of emerging technologies, with a focus on ensuring in

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter