New Delhi: Lauding his party`s sweep of the
local body elections in Gujarat, senior BJP leader LK Advani
Monday said more than 100 Muslim candidates from his party won,
sending the Congress in a "state of shock" and forcing its
senior state unit leaders to resign.
"I do not recall the election result of civic bodies in
any state causing such a political upheaval as has occurred in
Gujarat last week. The Congress party in the state has been
shocked by the results of the municipal and panchayat
elections," Advani wrote in his blog.
The senior BJP leader further states that this shock was
visible in the actions of the Congress leaders with their
state president Siddharth Patel resigning from his post owning
"moral responsibility" while Leader of Opposition in the
Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil also stepped down.
Advani insisted that these elections have proved that
Muslims and Christians are influenced by "development
politics" of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and BJP and
evidently disillusioned by vote bank politics.
"A remarkable feature of this election has been the
victory of more than 100 Muslim candidates who contested on
the BJP ticket at various levels. Yet another significant
achievement for the BJP has been its victory in Dang region
which has sizeable tribal Christian population," he said.
The former deputy prime minister also points out that
Congress has suffered setbacks on its own turf.
"In Central Gujarat, in Saurashtra and in Kutch, the
Congress has suffered serious setbacks....The BJP posted
significant victories even in the fiefdoms of Congress
heavyweights like Union ministers Bharat Singh Solanki (Anand)
and Dinsha Patel (Kheda)," Advani said.
The BJP won all the six corporations in Gujarat. Of the
53 municipalities, the BJP won 42 and Congress 4. Seven bodies
have gone to others. In case of the 24 districts panchayat
elections BJP won 21 and Congress 2. One is undecided. In 208
taluka panchayats, BJP won 155, Congress 37 and 6 were
undecided.
"The BJP had hoped to win these elections. But I must
admit that the results have surpassed all our expectations....
This time`s outcome is not just a defeat, it is a decimation
of the Congress in Gujarat," Advani said.
He said the Congress should see these results as a
forewarning for the 2012 Assembly polls and remember that
after the Emergency it had won just 12 of the 304 Lok Sabha
seats.
"If New Delhi thinks that it is just a failure of the
Gujarat Congress leadership, it is sorely mistaken," Advani
said.
He further said, "The vicious vendetta that the Central
government and Congress party at the Central level have been
carrying on against Modi, and his government, and the BJP in
Gujarat have made Gujarati voters really furious."
PTI
