NEW DELHI: While the Congress made significant progress in the rural areas bagging additional 14 seats in its tally of 68, the BJP had seemingly to face the angst of the agrarian distress as the party lost 14 from its 2012 strength to win 56 constituencies.
The BJP also had the last laugh on campaign surrounding the GST with the saffron outfit bagging all 10 seats in the traders’ mecca in Surat, which is known as textile and diamond hub of the state.
With the OBC youth leader Alpesh Thakor (Congress)and Dalit activist Jignesh Mewani (Independent) winning from Radhanpur and Vadgam respectively, Gujarat verdict suggested arrival of a new crop of political activists who could take on the BJP’s might.
That the BJP, which had bagged all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 general elections, came significantly down was also evident from the fact that the party could have won 162 Assembly seats.
Incidentally, none of the above (NOTA) polled over 5.5 lakh votes, 1.8 per cent, in Gujarat, which is being seen within the BJP as ballots wasted by the angry Patidar Patels.