With Congress making an impressive comeback in rural Gujarat in the local bodies polls, Congress today claimed the BJP government is on its way out in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Today's results are a stepping stone for a Congress victory in 2017. Their (the BJP government) anti-people policies have taken a toll on people," senior leader Ahmed Patel, who is political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said in a statement.
Expressing gratitude to the people of Gujarat, he said that these results indicate the BJP government is on its way out in Gujarat.
Insisting that the BJP government has paid a "heavy price for their vindictive attitude and witch hunt" towards the agitators in the state, he complimented state party leaders and workers for their untiring efforts and hard work.
Echoing similar feelings, AICC General Secretary Gurudas Kamat said that the BJP witnessed "complete rout" in areas represented by the Prime Minister, BJP veteran L K Advani as also Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, BJP chief Amit Shah and state Home Minister and state Finance Minister.
"It is a very significant indicator of shape of things to come in the 2017 Assembly polls in the state," he remarked.
Kamat said the way the BJP and the state government handled local issues including law and order problem evoked sharp reaction sending the message that "attitude of intolerance will not be tolerated".
Congress was leading in 18 of the 31 district panchayats while ruling BJP retained its hold on urban centres as trends of the local bodies polls continued to pour in.
Congress was virtually obliterated from all tiers of power structure in the state after losing almost every election to BJP in the last 12 years under the leadership of then chief minister Modi.
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At the Congress briefing, party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that in the Gujarat local bodies polls "we are seeing a continuation of the trend seen in Bihar" assembly polls where the BJP was defeated.
He said what was significant is that the BJP also lost in Vadnagar, the political home of the Prime Minister and BJP president Shah.
"In Bahucharaji, the home district of Chief Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister of Gujarat there is clean sweep by the Congress", he said.
As regards the civic polls, he claimed that despite 1.5 lakh voters having their names deleted in all corporations, Congress has doubled its seats.
