Hat-trick for Modi in Gujarat; Congress ousts BJP in HP
Narendra Modi on Thursday performed a hat-trick retaining power for the
third time in Gujarat and propelled himself as a strong contender in the
Prime Ministerial race in 2014 while Congress ousted BJP from office in
Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP registered its fifth consecutive victory in Gujarat, third under
Mr. Modi, when it bagged 115 seats, two less than in the 2007 elections
while Congress bagged two more to finish at 61.
The Nationalist Congress Party won two seats while Janata Dal-U one
seat. The Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) led by Keshubhai Patel, which
was widely predicted to damage the BJP’s fortunes, ended with a whimper
winning only three seats.
Widely speculated as a strong contender in the BJP riven by squabbles as
PM candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections, 62-year-old Mr. Modi
dedicated his victory to the six crore Gujaratis and those all over the
country pining for good governance and development.
The Chief Minister, who had consciously refused to apologise or express
regret over the post-Godhra violence in the state in 2002 that claimed
over 1,000 Muslim lives, on Thursday said he apologised to the six crore
Gujaratis for “any mistake that may have occurred“.
Even by mistake, there should be no mistake in the future, he told his
supporters in his victory speech but gave no indications of his future
political plans.
When they shouted, “PM, PM”, he said he would be making a visit to Delhi
for a day on Dec 27 and whatever he was doing in Gujarat was the
service to Mother India. .
“Neither will I stop, nor will I get tired as I have to fulfill your dreams”, he said.
However, Congress extracted a sweet revenge defeating BJP in the hill
state of Himachal Pradesh. The party secured a wafer-thin majority of 36
in a House of 68, one more than the half-way mark of 35.
The BJP managed to get only 26 while independents got 5 and Himachal
Loktantrik Party one. In the last elections, the BJP got 41 and Congress
23
The BJP campaign of corruption against Congress veteran Virbhadra Singh
failed to have any impact while anti—incumbency appeared to have cost
the ruling party dear in Himachal Pradesh.
The 78-year-old Virbhadra Singh, a five-time chief minister who was
given the reins of the party on the eve of elections and who ran a
spirited campaign, won from Shimla (Rural).
Mr. Singh is again a strong contender for the Chief Minister’s post, political observers say.
He also appears to have emerged unscathed from the CD case filed by the
Dhumal government in which charges were framed against him leading to
his resignation from the Union Government.
While Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal won from Hamirpur constituency, his
four cabinet colleagues Narinder Bragata, Khimi Ram, Krishan Kumar and
Romesh Dhawala lost the elections.
However, cabinet ministers Gulab Singh, Mohinder Singh, Jai Ram Thakur,
Ravinder Singh Ravi, Sarveen Chowdhary and Ishwar Dass Dhiman retained
their seats.
Leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes won from Theog while Vijay Singh
Mankotia, a bete noir of V B Singh, who buried the hatchet and rejoined
Congress on the eve of assembly polls,was defeated from Shahpur.
In Gujarat, Congress suffered a major blow when its state unit chief
Arjun Modhwadia lost the Porbandar seat to Babu Bokhiria of BJP by
17,146 votes, while Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil was defeated
by Minister of State for fisheries Purushottam Solanki of the saffron
party by 18,554 votes in Bhavnagar rural constituency.
Both were strong contenders for chief ministership in the event of Congress coming to power.
However, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Congress spearhead in the poll campaign
and former state Chief Minister, managed to win Kapadvanj seat defeating
Kanubhai Dabhi of BJP by a margin of 6597 votes.
Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile
victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by
over 42,000 votes.
Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.
Those who lost included Agriculture Minister Dileep Sanghani (Amreli),
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas (Siddhpur), Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela (Vadgam), Minister of State for
Forest and Environment Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi) and Minister of State for
Agriculture Kanubhai Bhalala (Visavadar).
It appears to be a near repeat performance by both BJP and Congress who had won 117 and 59 seats respectively in the last polls.
Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile
victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by
over 42,000 votes.
Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.
Those who lost included Agriculture Minister Dileep Sanghani (Amreli),
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas (Siddhpur), Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela (Vadgam), Minister of State for
Forest and Environment Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi) and Minister of State for
Agriculture Kanubhai Bhalala (Visavadar).
Keshubhai wins
Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile
victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP’s Kanubhai Bhalala by
over 42,000 votes.
Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.
Those who lost included Agriculture Minister Dileep Sanghani (Amreli),
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas (Siddhpur), Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela (Vadgam), Minister of State for
Forest and Environment Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi) and Minister of State for
Agriculture Kanubhai Bhalala (Visavadar).
It appears to be a near repeat performance by both BJP and Congress who had won 117 and 59 seats respectively in the last polls
Modi seeks Keshubhai Patel’s blessings
Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called on Gujarat Parivartan
Party (GPP) President Keshubhai Patel and sought his blessings after
BJP’s victory in the assembly elections.
Mr. Modi drove to the residence of Mr. Patel, who fell out with the BJP
stalwart and floated his own party ahead of the election, in Gandhinagar
to meet him.
“Modiji had come to seek blessings after his win in the elections. I
congratulated him for the win,” Mr. Patel said after Mr. Modi’s visit.
The former chief minister and BJP rebel floated GPP four months ahead of
the elections and led a vitriolic campaign against Modi, who had
succeeded him in 2001.
The GPP had fielded candidates in more than 170 Assembly seats but the
fledgling party came a cropper and barely managed to open its account.
During the campaigning, Keshubhai, who won from Visavadar Assembly seat
in Saurashtra region, had vowed to unseat Modi from power and compared
the BJP leader to Hitler and called him a “demon“.
Mr. Modi also visited his mother Hiraba and sought her blessings after
leading the BJP to third straight Assembly election victory.
Defeat in Himachal Pradesh
Riding an anti-incumbency wave and staving off corruption charges
against its veteran leader Virbhadra Singh, Congress on Thursday wrested
power from BJP in Himachal Pradesh with a wafer-thin majority of 36 in
the 68-member Assembly.
Disproving predictions of a close contest, the state lived to its
reputation of voting out the party in power, giving the ruling BJP,
which suffered from severe infighting and rebel candidates, only 26
seats.
The Independents, mostly BJP and Congress rebels, won five seats while
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) floated by BJP dissidents won one seat.
In the last elections in 2007, the BJP had bagged 41 seats and Congress 23.
The 78-year-old Virbhadra Singh, a five-time chief minister who was
given the reins of the party on the eve of elections and who ran a
spirited campaign, won from Shimla (Rural).
Mr. Singh, against whom BJP had levelled allegations of corruption
during his tenure as Steel Minister in Delhi in the campaign, is again a
strong contender for the Chief Minister’s post, political observers
say.
He also appears to have emerged unscathed from the CD case filed by the
Dhumal government in which charges were framed against him leading to
his resignation from the Union Government.
While Chief Minister P K Dhumal won from Hamirpur constituency, his four
cabinet colleagues Narinder Bragata, Khimi Ram, Krishan Kumar and
Romesh Dhawala lost the elections.
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