At a time when some political parties in the country are resorting to the nastiest of tricks to continue in power for a second or third term in a row, Bharatiya Janata Party has won people’s mandate in Gujarat for a record seventh term with its quintessential inclusive development approach – Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. This mantra, scrupulously followed by the Modi sarkar at the Center and by all BJP-ruled states, including Gujarat, worked wonders for the party with a difference.
The Bharatiya Janata Party secured an absolute majority, with 52.5% vote share, and a record-breaking 156 seats in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly, breaking the previous record of 149 seats – won by the Congress in 1985. What makes this mandate even more extraordinary is its pro-incumbency nature for a party that has been in power continuously for the past 24 years.
A quick scan of the detailed results tells us that the BJP’s candidates bagged 90% of the seats reserved for SCs and STs. Twenty four out of 27 segments reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates went to the BJP. For instance, the BJP’s Mohan Konkani won Vyara, a tribal seat that the Congress had won for four consecutive terms in the Tapi district, by defeating the sitting MLA Punabhai Gamit. The Vyara seat is considered a key Assembly seat because it gave Gujarat its first tribal CM, Amarsinh Chaudhary.
Of the 13 Assembly segments reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates, the BJP won 11. In the Vadodara city seat, the BJP’s sitting legislator Manish Vakil won with 1,30,112 votes, while Congress candidate Gunavantray Parmar got only 31,907 votes. BJP’s Ishwarbhai Parmar, the sitting MLA from Bardoli, won with 1,18,140 votes over Congress’s Pannaben Patel’s 28,478 votes. These are overwhelming majorities, to say the least.
Region-wise, the BJP’s performance was no different. It won more than two-thirds of the available seats from every region. It won 46 of the 54 Saurashtra and Kutch seats, 22 of the 32 seats in North Gujarat, 55 of 61 Central Gujarat seats, and 33 of the 35 seats in south Gujarat. This was a truly pan-Gujarat mandate.
Most significantly, 17 of the 19 segments which have a significant Muslim presence and are considered “Muslim-dominated” by pollsters went for the BJP. For instance, the BJP’s Sangitaben Rajendra Patil emerged victorious from Limbayat with over 52 per cent of the vote share to substantially disprove the myth that Muslims are not with the BJP. The usual observation by opposition parties, especially Congress, on such results is that AIMIM has split the minority vote. This time even that fig leaf was denied to them, as the AIMIM did not get a substantial vote share. In all the seats it contested, the AIMIM got fewer votes than the victory margin of the BJP candidates.
The BJP continued its dominance in urban areas by winning 63 per cent of votes as against 58 per cent in the 2017 elections.The party received 48 per cent votes in rural assembly seats as against the Congress’ 30 per cent. While the BJP increased its vote share in both urban and rural seats, the biggest seat gains, as compared to the 2017 elections, came from the rural and rurban (semi-urban) areas. This notable trend of increasing support from rural voters could be seen in the recent Munugode by-election too.
The people of Gujarat witnessed how the BJP government built the State meticulously on all fronts and appreciated it in the form of votes. The world’s largest canal – Narmada canal – which brought water for the draught-prone and water-scarce Gujarat, the relocation of the Tata Nano project, which highlighted the Ease of Doing Business for investors, the recent selection of Gujarat by Vedanta for its Semiconductor and Displays manufacturing venture, the Gift City which has the potential to make Gujarat a global financial services hub, symbolise the all-round development in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors.
Himachal Pradesh’s result also deserves a mention here. Though the BJP could not reverse the past 40 years’ “riwaz” of changing the ruling party, it came very close to doing so, by reducing the victory margin for the Congress to less than 1% (0.9%). I am sure after the next win, the “riwaz” will be reversed.
Attributing the BJP’s thumping victory in Gujarat to a factor other than Modi’s holistic approach to inclusive development is unwise and uncalled for. I am sure the voters of four North East States, along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Telangana – which go to polls next year – will also vote for the BJP to ensure double-engine government.
(The author is BJP TS spokesperson)
