Victory will help BJP to march towards Parliament: BJP

Congratulating Narendra Modi on the victory, he said the people of Gujarat had accepted Modi's leadership.

Terming the election results in Gujarat as 8216;a slap in the face of the Congress8217;, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu exuded confidence that the poll victory would help the party to 8216;march towards Parliament and attain victory under the leadership of L K Advani8217;.

Congratulating Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the victory, he said the people of Gujarat had accepted Modi8217;s leadership and his developmental agenda.

8220;It is not an ordinary matter to retain power for the third time. It is a big victory for the BJP and an indicator of how things going to shape up in future. I am sure, the BJP will now march forward to Delhi,8221; he said at Chennai airport, on his way to the national capital.

He said, 8220;the election result is a slap in the face of the Congress and other pseudo-secular parties who carried out a venomous and vicious campaign against Modi and the BJP.8221;

Taking a dig at the Congress, Naidu said he would like to thank that party for raking up certain issues during the election campaign, without understanding their implications and getting a beating at the end.

8220;While we carried out our campaign on developmental issues, the Congress talked about 8216;merchant of death8217;. They also raked up the Sohrabuddin case and communal riots, which all boomeranged on them,8221; he added.

Naidu said the Congress had still not learnt a lesson as some of its leaders had dubbed the BJP8217;s win as a victory of fascist. 8220;If we win, it is a victory of fascist. It they win, they claim it to be a victory of democracy. The Congress should learn to respect the verdict of people,8221; he added.

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Naidu expressed hope that the Assembly election results in Himachal Pradesh would also be positive for the BJP.

It would be followed by elections in Karnataka, where the party was hoping to capture power, he added.

Meanwhile, 8216;Kamalalayam,8217; the headquarters of BJP8217;s state unit, erupted in jubilation as the news of the party8217;s landslide victory came in.

A large number of party functionaries and cadre, who were closely following the election trends on a big screen, specially installed for the occasion, broke into rapturous applause when the party established an unassailable lead.

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BJP state president L Ganesan distributed sweets and the cadres danced and burst crackers to celebrate the victory.

In a congratulatory message to Modi, Ganesan said it was a victory for the nationalism against terrorism.