Gujarat elections: No stopping Modi wave, BJP rides again on back of its talisman

The gujarat elections was a referendum on BJP reforms, especially the Demonetisation and GST, both of which were felt by the trading community. However, the win for the saffron party illustrates that it had not been a scare at all.

With the Patidar agitation posing as a threat for the BJP, the task was cut out for Amit Shah and Co. to revive the euphoria surrounding the party’s dominance. Keeping Prime Minister as its main face and leading light, the saffron brigade harped on the idea of having the same government at the Centre and the state for the sake of Gujarat’s prosperity.

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The party’s performance in Saurashtra will be a cause of concern but Modi’s effect on the fate of the polls cannot be denied. A defeat would have been irreparable — a personal, moral and electoral loss — which may have sent Modi into a free fall but as things stand, he has emerged as the most charismatic political personality in the last decade.

The expectation of negative voting, fuelled by reports of palpable unrest, were not realised. The voices of doom came from within the BJP’s own ranks, eight months into Anandiben Patel's government and gathered force with the arrogant bludgeoning of the Patels and later, with the loss of jobs and businesses.

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With enviable oratory skills and unflinching determination to wipe out the existence of Congress as a political force, Modi knows well that the script for the 2019 polls won’t take a turn for the worse.

The Gujarat polls was a prestige contest for Modi. History will remember Hardik Patel as the man who failed to dislodge the BJP-led government but Modi must have realised long ago that in order to keep his party in power, the Hardik factor should not be allowed to snowball into a massive electoral headache for the party. Hardik, along with the Congress may have dented BJP’s popularity in the rural areas and in some other pockets of the state but Modi’s presence in the election rallies and his involvement gave the Gujaratis the assurance that the state will always hold a special place in his heart.