Zeenews Bureau
Ahmedabad: BJP leader Narendra Modi, who won a third consecutive election in Gujarat on Thursday, on Friday met Governor Kamla Beniwal and staked claim to form the government.
The BJP had won 115 of the total 182 seats in the Assembly polls held in Gujarat on December 13 and 17.
Meanwhile, clamour is growing in favour of Modi for him to shift to the national capital from Gujarat.
The BJP was able to ignore the ‘Modi as PM’ chorus before the elections but the big question is: will the saffron party be able to ignore the same any further?
Bihar BJP chief CP Thakur on Friday said it was time for Modi to become the PM.
“He has done good work in Gujarat, that is why he has won,” Thakur said. He added that efforts will be made to arrive at consensus on making Modi the BJP’s next PM candidate.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray also said today that after the resounding hat-trick in the Gujarat elections, Modi is now "knocking on the doors of Delhi".
Modi yesterday did not just win the state elections but also launched his bid for a bigger role in national politics.
While his supporters were cheering “PM, PM, PM” after his electoral hat-trick, Modi was already strategizing. In his victory speech in front of a huge crowd, Modi apologised to the people of the state. He said forgive me if I have committed any mistake.
“If there has been a mistake somewhere, if I have erred somewhere, I seek apology from you, the six crore Gujaratis,” Modi said. He apologized in Hindi – of course, he had a wider audience in mind.
The victory tally for the BJP may have come down from the last elections – at 115, compared to 117 in 2007, Modi’s bid for the prime ministership has only gained strength.
“The people of my state know what is good and bad for them. They have risen above caste and religious politics to vote for development. In this, they have set a precedent for the rest of the country to follow,” Modi asserted.
While speaking to the people of Gujarat, Modi clearly had India in his mind: “Be it Assam, Kerala, J&K or any other state, this victory is for all those who want to see India do better. Development of Gujarat benefits India as well. When farmers in the state benefit, their produce fill the belly of a hungry person somewhere in India. When an industry is set up here, it provides employment opportunity to a jobless person somewhere in my country.”
The CM also noted that young people from other states of India come to Gujarat to take up employment without fear.
As Modi was making his intentions clear, though in a discreet manner, the supporters started chanting “Delhi, Delhi, Delhi”. And this is what Modi said in reply: “If you are that insistent, I will go to Delhi on a one-day visit on December 27.”
First Published: Friday, December 21, 2012, 09:57