Ever since the BJP-led NDA Government came to power at the centre, every state election thereafter has been keenly watched. The BJP’s bugle of, “Congress mukth Bharat,” seems to have been realized in state after state barring Punjab. This time the Gujarat election has taken the form of a mandate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led the state as chief minister for three terms until he contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The BJP has been at the helm of affairs in Gujarat for 22 years and the Party seems to have bucked the anti-incumbency factor that normally afflicts all political parties in the seat of power. While Himachal Pradesh also went to the polls along with Gujarat, neither Prime Minister Modi nor BJP chief Amit Shah spent as much time and energy as they did in Gujarat.
The duo had all guns blazing during the Gujarat poll campaign. They left nothing to chance and used every single opportunity, including gaffes from senior Congressmen to convert them to votes. The consummate actor that he is, Modi turned the entire election into a narrative about himself and Gujarati pride (asmita). Amit Shah had also stated that anything short of 100 seats for the BJP in Gujarat would be taken as a fall from grace for the BJP. Well, the fact that BJP got 99 seats, just one short of the 100 figure should give the party bosses some sleepless nights. This is a far cry from the 150 seats that Amit Shah had claimed the Party would win. But this is a wake- up call for the BJP. The Congress has established its strength in rural Gujarat especially the Saurashtra region which is essentially a farming region. Farmer’s distress is something that the BJP did not pay enough attention to. On the contrary the BJP thought its major competitor was Hardik Patel who stood for reservation for the Patidar community. Finally, it turned out that Patel was not much of a vote-catcher. Every political party has to learn lessons from every election result. The winners cannot rest on their laurels and the losers cannot blame others for their failure. All need to be humbled by the peoples’ verdict!