Rejecting the opposition?s ?hate campaign?, Gujarat has voted decisively for Narendra Modi, giving him and the BJP a few seats short of two-thirds majority in the state assembly. Modi returns as chief minister for the third time.
The party secured 117 seats out of 182, while the Congress had to be content with only 59 seats. Given that Modi had started his campaign with a clear development agenda, the results will be seen as an endorsement of Modi?s economic policies. Addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad, he said the victory was a positive vote against ?anti Gujarat? forces. ?This verdict will uproot several old beliefs such as that it is not possible to win elections on development agenda and good governance is bad politics?, his statement noted.
But the win is sure to temper Congress reflexes on taking on the Left over the Indo-US nuclear deal. To put it bluntly, the UPA will think twice before pushing ahead with the deal and risk an early general election. Within the BJP, Modi?s return could evoke unease within the second rung leadership, who will not want to give him any opportunity to expand his popularity outside Gujarat.
The resurgent mood in the BJP, for now, however, got reflected when the party?s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani said the party?s victory was a turning point in national politics and signalled a comeback trail at the Centre. Polls are due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka in early 2008. BJP is in power in three of these states.
Though the Congress has managed to raise its tally from 51 to 60 seats in Gujarat, its hopes of cutting into the BJP vote by sponsoring rebel candidates and manipulate its way through in a hung House has not materialised. The only region where Congress made a dent was central Gujarat, which had borne the brunt of communal riots.
Modi was successful not only in warding off challenges from party rebels in Saurashtra, but turn the tables on the Congress by winning 45 out of 63 seats in Saurashtra, despite non-cooperation from Keshubhai and his supporters. Overall Modi nuetralised the losses in central Gujarat with spectacular gains in north and south.
Attacking Modi during the campaign, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had described him as a ?merchant of death? in the context of his alleged role in the communal riots, but he swiftly seized upon it to change the campaign discourse from development to a Modi versus the rest issue. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had also attacked his performance, congratulated him on his victory.