Gujarat BJP likely to win 7th term thanks to NaMo

Winning elections and winning the hearts of the people are two very different things. NaMo managed to do both in Gujarat, and itis about time the state leaders strive to achieve that.

- SEMU BHATT

Gujarat will vote in two phases in the first week of December. The Assembly election results in the western state will be closely watched, not just in India, but also abroad, as it is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Anything less than a massive victory will be declared as the beginning of the end of Modi by the BJP's opponents.

The BJP will be seeking a seventh consecutive win in the western state-a feat achieved in India only by the Left Front in West Bengal. The BJP and Modi will put in their best efforts to not just ensure a win but also make it big. Amit Shah would hope to achieve in 2022 what he couldn't in 2017-Mission 150.

2017-2022 The BJP's 2017 victory in Gujarat turned out to be the party's worst performance in two decades, with it failing to reach three digits. Despite a 49.1% vote share-over 1% increase from the 2012 pollsthe BJP won only 99 seats, 16 less than its 2012 tally. The Congress won 77 seats, putting up its best performance since 1985 when its KshatriyaHarijan-Adivasi-Muslim formula had resulted in a record 149 seats.

Winning Gujarat for the sixth straight time was no mean feat. While the 2017 results may have looked embarrassing for the BJP in its strongest bastion, the party did well considering it was facing multiple challenges like the Patidar agitation, farmers' distress, the impact of GST, party infighting, and two Chief Ministers in a short span of three-and-a-half-years. Any other party would have lost in such an adverse situation.

Since the 2017 election results, a lot has changed. The BJP tally in the Assembly has gone up to 111 from 99.