NEW DELHI: The Congress claimed it was close to winning the Gujarat polls and cited the results of 16 Assembly seats where its candidates lost by less than 3,000 votes, saying the opposition party’s aggressive campaign gave a tough time to the ruling BJP.
“To All our BJP friends, who are celebrating Gujarat victory of BJP by a whisker, please note that there was less then 3000 votes difference between Congress and BJP on 16 assembly seats,” Congress communication department chief Randeep Surjewala tweeted a day after the party lost the polls by winning 77 of the 182 seats. The BJP won 99. Congress ally Bharatiya Tribal Party won two seats, while independent candidate Jignesh Mevani is also supporting the Congress, taking the total to 80.
“We ran an aggressive campaign. We did not win the election but that is okay,” Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who led the party’s campaign across the state, said.
Among the seats which the Congress lost by less than 1,000 votes are Godhra, Dholka and Botad.
The BJP managed to wrest the Godhra seat from the Congress, which the saffron party had last won in 2002. Congress rebel C K Raulji, who contested on a BJP ticket, won by a thin margin of 236 votes over Congress nominee Rajendra Parmar, a former Janata Dal leader
In Botad Taluka, BJP heavyweight Saurabh Patel won by 906 votes against Congress nominee D M Kalathiya.
In Dholka, BJP nominee Bhupendrasinh Manubha Chudasama defeated Congress candidate Ashvinbhai Kamsubhai Rathod by 327 votes.
Congress managers acknowledged they could not match the resources deployed by the BJP and also had a late start, adding that if the contest had been even, the opposition party could have formed the government in Gujarat.
“With all the might of BJP in the state and centre, the Congress party gained 19 more seats than 2012 Assembly elections,” Congress veteran Anand Sharma said.
Terming the win as not normal but special, Prime Minsiter Modi said the party had a president in Amit Shah who was “hardworking, a strategist and can identify strengths of lakhs of partys workers and use them effectively” for the organisation.