New Delhi, Dec 18: As the counting in Gujarat threw up a tougher fight in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state than had been predicted, the ruling BJP said it would “analyse what happened”, but insisted it was not worried.
“Trends so far show it was a tough fight, we will analyse it,” said BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya at a time the Congress appeared to be rapidly closing the gap.
“Sometimes we are not able to put across our message to the voter. It happens in elections. But it is still too early to say anything,” he said.
After a scare over the possibility of neck-and-neck results, the BJP seemed set to win again in the state but with a reduced margin.
The results indicate the party has taken a major hit in the Saurashtra region, which is dominated by the Patel or Patidars. The community, which has been aggressively campaigning for quota in government jobs and education, has been disenchanted with the BJP and had vowed to vote against it. The Patidars’ charismatic 24-year-old leader Hardik Patel expressed support for the Congress.
In a sign of worry for the BJP, their Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was trailing in Rajkot West, the constituency in Saurashtra where PM Modi contested his first election and won.
Rupani, Chief Minister since August last year, was behind his Congress rival Indranil Rajguru in Rajkot West.
Rupani is the first Chief Minister since Narendra Modi to face elections in Gujarat.
Elections for the 182-seat Gujarat assembly were held December 9 and 14. (Agencies)
