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OP-ED DECEMBER 16, 2022 | The Indian Eye 14

BJP’s dazzling win in Gujarat, loss in Himachal

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

here’s no other way to put it:
BJP’s record haul in Gujarat
Tis directly proportional to PM
Modi’s unsparing efforts to reach
out to voters. His high-energy cam-
paign, visiting the state week after
week, during which he kept present-
ing industrial projects, development
schemes, talked up global recogni-
tion of various kinds, and gave big
ticket ideas for the future, convinced
voters that despite six successive
assembly victories, BJP’s “double
engine” government at Centre and
state still has much more to offer.
In contrast, Congress and AAP
could promise just tired welfarism
and freebies, which BJP neutralized
by appealing to Gujarati pride. For
PM Modi and Amit Shah, this tri-
umph will taste sweeter than many
earlier ones in Gujarat, having finally
chased down Madhavsinh Solanki’s
149-seat victory in 1985.
Himachal stayed true to its track
record of ousting incumbents, giving
Congress its best assembly poll show-
ing since 2018. It will slightly temper
criticism that Congress is incapable
of defeating BJP. But Congress now Congress supporters burst firecrackers during the party’s victory celebrations in
has to elect a CM acceptable to all
factions and capable of fending off Himachal Assembly Elections in Ranchi on Thursday (ANI)
BJP overtures to potential defectors.
In Gujarat, BJP has achieved the his fief. The Congress, which focused rotating power between the BJP and party, expectations of the Opposi-
improbable feat of bettering its vote on bread-and-butter issues, has been the Congress. What worked in the tion often hinge on the ultimate pos-
share after decades in office while decimated, with its vote share drop- BJP’s favor in Gujarat did not reap sibility of voter fatigue if not voter
Congress and AAP split the oppo- ping by about 14 percentage points. dividends in the smaller state. Mr response to genuine economic woes.
sition vote. BJP’s 49% vote share in Unsurprisingly, the Aam Aadmi Par- Modi, who campaigned in Himachal, Such expectations tend to ignore the
2017 and 48% in 2012 has crossed ty has been the principal beneficiary, failed to deliver in the face of such capacity of the dominant party to
52% this time, but Congress’s mostly cutting into the Congress’s local factors as anti-incumbency, an keep the voters hooked to its rheto-
steady 43% in 2017 and 41% in 2012 vote share. unpopular chief minister, as well as ric and leadership.
crashed to 27%, with AAP shaving That the AAP failed to create factionalism, the latter usually being In the latest round of assembly
off 13%. Even GOP’s rural and trib- a dent in the BJP’s support base is the trademark of the Congress. elections, the two results go in two
al strongholds fell to the BJP wave. borne out by the rise in the latter’s -- The Editorial Board, different directions. Therefore, crit-
vote percentage. This raises the ics of the BJP are likely to exaggerate
-- Editorial, The Telegraph (India)
The Times of India possibility of the AAP replacing the example of Himachal Pradesh
the Congress as the BJP’s principal THE MISSING OPPOSITION and refuse to learn from the Gujarat
TWO DIFFERENT STATES challenger in Gujarat in the long run. results. While it would be misleading
The hemorrhaging of the Congress f Gujarat exemplifies the current to read too much in the outcome in
espite feverish speculation, even among traditional supporters invincibility of the BJP with al- Himachal, the greater mistake will
the election result in Gujarat — tribals and Muslims — could be Imost double the vote share of its be to not understand the Gujarat
Dis not unexpected. Elector- an indicator that Gujarat, eventually, nearest rival in the state, Himachal outcome for its real message.
ally speaking, Gujarat has been syn- could emulate Delhi’s disenchant- Pradesh too brings into sharp focus -- Suhas Palshikar,
onymous with the Bharatiya Janata ment with the Congress. the difficulties in displacing the BJP The Indian Express
Party since 1995. It has, the murmurs But it would be erroneous to — Congress and BJP are practical-
of disenchantment notwithstanding, draw broader, pan-India conclusions ly tied there in terms of vote share.
returned the BJP to power with its on the basis of the BJP’s astound- Both assembly outcomes alert us to Every week, we look at what the top
best ever mandate in the state on this ing success in Gujarat. Himachal the fact that the second dominant commentators in the Indian media are
occasion. This goes to show that Na- Pradesh has slipped out of the party’s party system that emerged in 2014 is talking about and bring to you a slice
rendra Modi’s appeal and his brand hands — and into the Congress’s — not showing any signs of decline. of their opinions and comments
of politics remain unchallenged in keeping intact the state’s tradition of In a system dominated by one

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