Modi, Modi, now Mega Modi

In an election verdict set to redefine his position within the BJP and the party8217;s at the Centre, Gujarat today returned Narendra Modi to power...

In an election verdict set to redefine his position within the BJP and the party8217;s at the Centre, Gujarat today returned Narendra Modi to power with an overwhelming majority for a third consecutive term.

The BJP won 117 of the 182 seats as Congress hopes evaporated and the party finished with 59 seats, barely eight more than its 2002 tally. Congress ally NCP managed only three seats.

Hailing the BJP8217;s 8220;spectacular victory in Gujarat8221;, L K Advani, the party8217;s prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections, said it is 8220;a turning point because it signals the BJP8217;s comeback as the frontrunner in the next Parliamentary elections8230; today is a historic day for Indian democracy8221;. The party hopes to take Himachal Pradesh as well where counting will take place on December 28.

Modi, who received a call from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulating him on his win, said the verdict showed that the people of Gujarat had 8220;not accepted8221; Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

8220;The BJP fought the elections only on the development plank and explained the party8217;s position only when faced with opposition attacks,8221; he said. 8220;Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had campaigned for her party and tried to win, but they could not manage as the people of Gujarat did not accept them.8221;

As Modi later addressed party workers in Ahmedabad in Hindi 8212; he said not just the nation, the entire world was watching Gujarat 8212; the BJP issued a statement, saying 8220;this historic verdict of the people of Gujarat will bring qualitative change in prevailing Indian politics. People have approved of a stable, efficient and transparent government which enhances their feeling of security.8221;

8220;People have rejected the anti-development mentality and have defeated forces who were out to defame Gujarat. This verdict will uproot several old beliefs, that it is not possible to win elections on the development agenda, that good governance is bad politics,8221; Modi said.

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Though Modi patted himself for his development agenda, seven of his ministers lost the elections, including I K Jadeja Urban Development and Roads and Building, Kaushik Patel Revenue and Bhupendrasinh Chudasma Agriculture.

Modi won by about 87,000 votes from the Maninagar constituency in Ahmedabad, defeating Congress candidate and Union Minister of State Dinsha Patel.

The BJP wrested 26 seats from the Congress in the Saurashtra/Kutch and South Gujarat regions where it was expected to do badly. The Congress, on the other hand, managed to get back as many as 34 seats from the BJP in the Central Gujarat region 8212; only eight are from Saurashtra. Of the seven BJP rebel MLAs who fought the elections on Congress tickets, only one, Bavku Unghad, won from Babra in Amreli district.