BJP's record win in Gujarat Assembly polls shows resonance of its agenda

New Delhi: The BJP's annihilation of a divided opposition in Gujarat, as it wielded its planks of Hindutva, nationalism and development to power its electoral juggernaut to a record-breaking victory, has boosted its already high hopes of retaining power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

However, its loss of power in Himachal Pradesh to the Congress, considered no match to the BJP in organisational heft, resource mobilisation, ideological resonance and star power, as the opposition party focussed on local issues and satraps to drive its campaign showed that the BJP is not an invincible force.

Even the "Modi magic" was not powerful enough to override people's discontent over simmering local issues like Old Pension Scheme and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's indifferent image. For example, in Solan where BJP leaders hoped for a strong performance after a well-attended rally of the prime minister, their party lost all five seats. The rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also presented the ruling party and, more so, its main national rival Congress with a host of challenges as they prepare for a slew of state elections before the mega contest in 2024.

The BJP has, however, much more positives to draw from these results with party leaders believing that it is their "national" agenda which worked in Gujarat that will also come into play more and more as the next general election approaches.

Even in a losing cause like Himachal, the party's vote share was less than one per cent of the Congress.

The BJP won a record 156 seats in Gujarat with a staggering 52.5 per cent vote share, dwarfing the Opposition Congress and AAP, that got over 27 per cent and about 13 per cent vote share respectively.

The Congress got just 17 seats while the AAP managed to bag five.

Independents won three seats and the Samajwadi Party picked up one.