NEW DELHI: The BJP’s ‘mission 150’ may not have turned into reality in Gujarat, but the party can take solace that its ground level organisation is still very strong.
Evidence to this is seen in the results with 40 of the party’s 99 elected representatives emerging on top with a victory margin of over 20,000 votes.
In a tight contest like Gujarat, suach a margin is commendable. The BJP has been immensely successful in mobilising its voters to cast their votes.
“We always bank on our karyakartas. They are our treasure. Our party has been the same for long. We believe in strong foundations. The result is for all to see,” a senior BJP leader said.
The Congress does not boast of a strong booth-level organisation. The party’s victory margins have not been as big as that of the BJP with only a few leaders emerging victorious with victory margins of over 10,000 votes. The Congress lost 16 seats by narrow margins.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s blitzkrieg campaign of 34 rallies is being touted by political pundits as one of the main reasons of the BJP’s victory. However, party president Amit Shah’s ground work in the run up to the polls has also been a contributing factor to the BJP retaining the state for the sixth consecutive term. Evidence to this are the 40 candidates, who have won by over 20,000 votes. Seventeen of them have breached the 50,000 mark. “To win an Assembly election by over 50,000 votes is a remarkable feat. This just shows how much our voters trust us,” the leader said.
Two candidates from the saffron party won their respective constituencies with a margin of over one lakh votes. Hiteshkumar Patel, the candidate from Choryasi beat his rival by 1,10,819 votes, while the BJP candidate from Ghatlodia thrashed his rival by a margin of 1,17,750 votes.