The counting of votes for the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly election took place today and marked BJP’s victory in both the states.
BJP has won 99 seats out of 182 in Gujarat, accounting for 54% of the votes, and Congress managed to secure 77 seats, that is almost 42% of the votes. AAP failed to get even one seat. Other parties got 5 seats.
In Himachal Pradesh, Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was BJP’s candidate, garnered the majority. The BJP is leading with 44 seats out of 68, while Congress only got 21 seats. Other parties got only 3 seats. PM Narendra Modi tweeted after his party’s win in both the states.
I bow to the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh for their affection and trust in BJP. I assure them that we will leave no stone unturned in furthering the development journey of these states and serve the people tirelessly.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2017
Election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh indicate a strong support for politics of good governance and development. I salute the hardworking BJP Karyakartas in these states for their hardwork which has led to these impressive victories.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2017
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi, who was recently declared the Indian National Congress’s president, proved to be a challenge for BJP. There was war of words and most of the time it turned ugly. There were also random allegations doing the rounds on social media posted by both BJP and Congress members.
Rahul kept visiting temples. Even though he was slammed for doing so, but he kept on doing that to show the people of Gujarat that he will not shy away from communal politics if the need arises.
It is safe to say that PM Narendra Modi was scared of losing his model state thanks to Gandhi’s campaigning. Modi was Gujarat’s CM for 12 years before he became the Prime minister of the country. Yet, Modi addressed at least 34 campaign rallies in his state to ensure his supremacy dominates the scene.
Modi did all the poll optics – from the inauguration of hospitals and ferry service to river landing in Sabarmati before winding up his Gujarat election campaign.
Quick look at others
With Rahul Gandhi visiting temples to advertisements being published in newspapers on behalf of both BJP and Congress, the last few months was a vicious battle to enforce supremacy over the others.
There was an entire fiasco related to Hardik Patel. BJP was initially nervous with the young contender who fought for the inclusion of Patidar in Other backward classes. There were sex tapes which were doing the rounds on social media and an entire controversy followed that. He could not win, and he alleges hacked EVM declared the BJP winner in the Gujarat elections.
Jignesh Mevani, a young law student became the voice of the oppressed Dalits and became victorious. He got a whopping 95,497 votes. He was an independent candidate and was always vocal about his difference of opinions with BJP.
What does it mean for the country?
In 2014, BJP was in power in 7 states and Congress were in 13. In 3 years, in 2017, BJP now has a stronghold in 19 states and Congress in 3. Most of the states in India has bowed down to saffron politics.
