Gujarat shocks both Cong, BJP

It was a shocker for both the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat. While the BJP, despite its star candidates, including prime ministerial candidate LK Advani and Chief Minister Narendra Modi, could not get anywhere close to its target of 20 seats, the Congress saw Union Textile Minister Shankersinh Vaghela and Minister of State for Railways, Naranbhai Rathwa, being defeated.

The BJP managed to win 15 seats, one more than the last election’s 14, while the Congress managed to bag 10 seats. The result of one seat where Minister of State for Petroleum, Dinsha Patel, is contesting will be declared on Monday. The minister was leading by about 180 votes against Devusinh Chauhan of the BJP before the voting machine developed a technical snag in Dholka, said sources. Dholka has around 800 voters, of which 700 are Muslims.

It was a battle had won for Advani at Gandhinagar given the tremendous opposition he faced from the Patel community. Advani won Gandhinagar by about 100,000 votes, his lowest-ever margin here. There has been unrest among the service class in Gandhinagar and this may have lost him some votes, according to experts. Modi, who set records by addressing over 300 rallies nationally and having spent a lot of time in the air for campaigning, could not gain much ground in Maharasthra.

Faced with the overall defeat of the BJP, Modi, projected by many as “prime minister-in-waiting,” confined himself to his house and did not step out during the day, sources said. The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) said Modi’s “black magic” didn't work this time. “Modi’s black magic didn't work in the country. Its end has also begun in Gujarat,” said Shaktisinh Gohil, the opposition leader in the Assembly.

Talking about Congress’ failures in the state, Gohil said, “Panchmahals and Sabarkantha were considered to be winning seats. Unfortunately, we have lost these and need to check where we went wrong.”

Vaghela, on the other hand, lost to the BJP’s PrabhatsinhChauhan by 2,300 votes. Naran Rathwa was defeated by Mohansinh Rathwa of the BJP in Chhota Udepur. Another upset was in Rajkot, considered a secure seat for the BJP, which had been winning this seat since 1989. However, this time, the Congress’ Kuvarji Bavalia, fielded for the first time from Rajkot, emerged victorious. It may be mentioned here that the BJP chose not to repeat Vallabh Kathiria for the seat this time. Kathiria had won the seat for the BJP in 2004.

Congress candidate and BJP rebel Somabhai Patel won the Surendranagar seat, while ex-congressman Somji Damor, who joined the BJP this year, was defeated by Prabha Taviad of the Congress. Last year, Taviad had lost by a small margin to Babu Katara, who was suspended from the BJP for human trafficking.