The year ended with a blockbuster election- show in India, which glued people to their TV sets and mobile phones. With Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh State Assembly elections results out, there are bad news and good news for every side of political dimension.
Gujarat Election
In Gujarat assembly elections of 2022, polling took place in two phased manner where Bharatiya Janata Party was ruling the state for 6 tenures straight. And BJP overwhelmingly bagged 156 out of 182 Assembly seats and will form the government record seventh time in a row. This is one of the biggest achievements of any arty in India’s history. While the opposition party, Congress won 17 seats and AAP got merely 5 seats.
This was a mega show by BJP in the election performance history. Because in the last tenure, the party had only 99 seats, while the opposition, Congress had 77 seats in state Assembly. Outperforming themselves, this time in 2022, BJP as an incumbent party secured 53.33% vote share.
Under Bhupendrabhai Patel’s leadership the Gujarat state government was working for the welfare of the people of the state. And over the span of these 27 years, Gujarat model of development is an example which other states follow. While Narendra Modi, prime Minister of the country who hailed from the Gujarat itself did a storming campaigning in the state, where he addressed 31 rallies in different regions of the state and led three mega road shows. As PM again and again urged voters to make
“Bhupendra break records of Narendra”.
He added, in the winning rally in Delhi headquarters, 8th in the evening
“BJP has got the biggest mandate in the history of Gujarat. People have created a record in breaking records. When I was in Gujarat, I had told people that Narendra’s record should be broken.”
Himachal Pradesh Result
While in Himachal Pradesh, BJP had to face a defeat with a very thin margin of vote share that is only 1 percent. The hill state follows a trend of changing government every 5 years, and this time while campaigning Narendra Modi was insistent upon this. In his rallies, while addressing the people he used to appeal the voters that this time the ‘rivaaz’ will change, and BJP will have to secure the government consecutively the second time.
INC bagged more than 15 seats than BJP, in a 69 seat Legislative assembly of the state with a thin difference of 1 percent vote share. However, Modiji thanked the people of Himachal.
I thank the people of Himachal Pradesh for the affection and support for the BJP. We will keep working to fulfil the aspirations of the state and raise people’s issues in the times to come. @BJP4Himachal
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 8, 2022
Conclusion
There were many factors which worked in the favour of BJP in Gujarat. While it is the home state of the PM of the country, people of Gujarat would obviously prefer BJP over any other party. And moreover, Congress was in no mood of even contesting in Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi did not put any attention to the Gujarat elections, while busy in his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Gujarat is a highly industrialised state and it is continuously being modernised on the lines of international standards. Better governance and modernised infrastructure is what facilitates a growing and prospering business state, therefore, Gujarat is the most secure fort for BJP.
While BJP need to introspect its performance in Himachal because there are continuous claims that the local leadership of core BJP workers were neglected in the state and there are no tall leaders in Himachal Pradesh as the face of the party.
Furthermore, AAP securing 13 percent vote in Gujarat Assembly elections does not directly write off the existence of a Delhi based party. And Kejriwal’s party can be proved a potential opponent in the upcoming elections. Because whether AAP has not been able to make a significant impact, but their media management and marketing is so apt that they are always able to become the talk of the town. And this strategy can significantly help in changing of narratives, while not making much impact on the ground.
Overall, this end of the year, is creating atmosphere for another round of elections in the year 2023, and the political parties will shift their focus to them. But, for Hindus, the priorities of Hindu issues need to be made the helm of the affairs in any political agendas of the politicians.