With results flocking in from Gujarat, finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the Congress was a winner there also as it has been able to contain the BJP in the state. ‘Congress has won in Himachal Pradesh. In Gujarat too, I think Congress is a winner. Congress has gained several seats and BJP has been contained, the last numbers that I saw, (it was) below 117. If the BJP does not cross 117 and Congress has improved its tally, Congress is a clear winner in Gujarat too,’ said Chidambaram.
On the victory of BJP in the polls, he said, ‘That was expected. The Government and the bureaucracy there has a stranglehold over the system. That is a general perception there. The important point is that the kind of sweeping victory was being predicted is not there. The fact is BJP has been contained below the number it had last time and Congress has improved its tally, even if marginally, it shows that the exaggerated claims made by the BJP are not correct.’
Asked whether these results were indicators for the 2014 general elections, he said, ‘We are not thinking on the lines of the 2014 elections. That is still some 16 months away.’
Speaking on the poll result in Gujarat telecom minister Kapil Sibal said the verdict has shown that people who were against Modi are against him and those with him are with him. ‘Both Shakti (Singh Gohil) and Arjun (Modvadia) have not produced the kind of results which we had hoped. We will certainly look into this,’ he said.
External affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, ‘Why are you raising an election victory which I believe came with great difficulty for Modi to his having a pan- Indian presence. He doesn’t have a pan- Indian presence. In fact, there is a lot of negativity that goes with him elsewhere in the country.
Therefore, please don’t raise him to that level.’
‘What about Himachal? Don’t undermine or reduce the importance of Himachal. Straight win for Modi fine, happy. But we have made significant improvements and I think we need to analyse both our improvements and our disappointments,’ he added.
On the victory of BJP in the polls, he said, ‘That was expected. The Government and the bureaucracy there has a stranglehold over the system. That is a general perception there. The important point is that the kind of sweeping victory was being predicted is not there. The fact is BJP has been contained below the number it had last time and Congress has improved its tally, even if marginally, it shows that the exaggerated claims made by the BJP are not correct.’
Asked whether these results were indicators for the 2014 general elections, he said, ‘We are not thinking on the lines of the 2014 elections. That is still some 16 months away.’
Speaking on the poll result in Gujarat telecom minister Kapil Sibal said the verdict has shown that people who were against Modi are against him and those with him are with him. ‘Both Shakti (Singh Gohil) and Arjun (Modvadia) have not produced the kind of results which we had hoped. We will certainly look into this,’ he said.
External affairs minister Salman Khurshid said, ‘Why are you raising an election victory which I believe came with great difficulty for Modi to his having a pan- Indian presence. He doesn’t have a pan- Indian presence. In fact, there is a lot of negativity that goes with him elsewhere in the country.
Therefore, please don’t raise him to that level.’
‘What about Himachal? Don’t undermine or reduce the importance of Himachal. Straight win for Modi fine, happy. But we have made significant improvements and I think we need to analyse both our improvements and our disappointments,’ he added.