While the entire country was busy watching the result of Bihar Assembly election, BJP's master strategist Amit Shah and his team quietly cliched all eight Assembly constituencies in the fray for by-elections in Gujarat.
The eight Assembly seats won by the BJP in by-polls are — Abdasa, Limbdi, Gadhada, Dangs, Dhari, Morbi, Kaprada and Karjan. The by-polls were necessitated after resignations by Congress MLAs who joined BJP. Five of the Congress MLAs had resigned in March and three in June this year in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha election.
Amit Shah, who is said to be behind the strategy of the BJP in every significant election, was involved in planning the strategy for the by-election in Gujarat, his home state.
His close interest and contribution in planning can be understood by the fact that he went on a private visit to Gujarat ahead of the by-elections last month. During his five-day visit, he is believed to have hold meetings with party leaders, workers and key figures, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, and new party president CR Patil.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the state, which many believe was aimed at giving weight to BJP's election campaign. The highlight of PM Modi's two-day trip to Gujarat was his visit to the Statue of Unity for the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31.
Although by-polls happen to be an easy walk for the ruling party, many believe that BJP was nervous due to Congress' resilience in the state. Congress' resilience in Gujarat is a political enigma. It has been out of power in the state for 25 years. Despite that, the party remains a formidable challenge to the BJP as it has consistently retained a vote share of over 35 percent.
A landslide victory
In results announced on Tuesday, BJP's Pradhyumansinh Jadeja, one of the five turncoat MLAs of the Congress defeated his nearest Congress rival Shantilal Senghani by a margin of 36,778 votes from Abdasa Assembly seat in Kutch, according to the Election Commission.
After the announcement of the by-poll results, Shah tweeted, "BJP's landslide win in Gujarat byelections is the victory of firm belief of people in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Vijay Rupani and the BJP government."
Hailing the by-polls results, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the BJP's sweeping victory was just a "trailer" of the outcome to be expected in upcoming local body elections and in the 2022 Assembly poll.
"Today BJP has emerged victorious across the country, whether it is Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat. This outcome is the result of the work done by Narendra Modi government and the support of people for the BJP," Rupani told reporters.
