BJP breaks all records, Congress breaks own records
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel (left) and PM Modi (right). Photo: DailyO
Bhupendra Patel will go down in the history books as the chief minister who returned to power with the highest number of seats in the Gujarat Assembly. The record was earlier held by Madhavsinh Solanki who in 1985 won 149 seats, thanks to a coalition formula famously known as KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim). That record could not be broken even by the charismatic Narendra Modi, who in 2002, won 127, a record for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Both these records will be broken by Bhupendra Patel. Patel, who was installed as the chief minister just a year ago, knows this isn't him. This is Modi Magic that has had Gujarat mesmerised since 2001. BJP has been ruling Gujarat for 27 years and still does not face the kind of anti-incumbency that could unseat it. This is the seventh time the party has returned to power, equalling the Left Front government's record in West Bengal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been battling anti-incumbency for quite some time. In the last Assembly election, it just about managed to return with 99 seats as Congress won 77 seats. This one, in 2022, was the Congress's best chance as the BJP-led Gujarat government was a mess and party had many factions. The matters were supposed to worsen as the BJP changed the chief minister and the entire Cabinet, retiring many stalwarts. In this election, the BJP also did not give tickets to the senior leaders and more than half the MLAs were dropped. In all those strongholds, the party got new candidates. To sum it up, things were not really great politically.
But then a 10-year-old entered the fray. The Aam Aadmi Party, boosted by its sweep in Punjab, went in with all its might, projecting itself as the BJP's main rival. This fragmented the anti-BJP vote bloc and consolidated the BJP vote, and the vote was sought in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat's pride and India's Prime Minister. The result is for all to see. Aam Aadmi Party did not touch the double digit in seat numbers but cut into Congress's votes in rural and tribal areas. Urban Gujarat saw no contest because the BJP has always had the lion's share of votes in urban areas, above 50 per cent.
The Aam Aadmi Party however will now be recognised as a national party. It has also placed itself as a senior contender for the next Assembly election, much to the Congress's chagrin. The BJP began its journey with only 15 per cent votes in the state. That's about what AAP is securing for itself. The Congress's historic loss also marks its future irrelevant in Gujarat politics as its leaders and cadre will surely gravitate towards the AAP.