Dec 24: Modi’s back in power with a bang is conspicuous reality but the verdict of people of Gujarat must not be seen in terms of triumph of hindutva rather should be viewed as the consequence of development work done in Gujarat by Narendra Modi there. Otherwise it would lead to wrong message across the country pernicious to the existence of secularism of our country.
It might look ironical but the Gujarat electorate has rejected the propaganda that Modi government is communal. Modi’s win in assembly election leads to two opinions either all the electorate particularly Hindus across the state are communal or they subsided the BJP’s campaign based on communal ideology and voted for development work and performance of the party.
Under his dynamic leadership the state's economy and infrastructure has flourished immensely which has helped Gujaratis all over the world in coming back to the state and invest.
Different reasons can be cited for Modi’s win, but superficially it seems that people have voted for good governance and corruption-free state. At least they have shown that people can’t be cheated by slogans and lengthy communal speeches alone. They do not think of the past, as they are realistic. Now after grasping the power again, Modi should put his hard-line Hindutva on the back burner and work for the all-round development of the state.
The chief minister ended up with 117 seats, a good 26 seats above the halfway mark, just 10 seats short of the last election, while the Congress and allies stopped short at 62. The credit for overwhelming victory of the BJP in Gujarat goes to Modi and that could be an uncomfortable thought for many in the BJP is that Modi has emerged as the biggest brand in the Hindutva type of politics and his word or opinion in the future could carry more weight than those of all other leaders put together.
The lack of VHP support was very much evident. Unlike Modi’s 2002 Gaurav Yatra, when he rode on the well-oiled wheels of the VHP and Bajrang Dal, roadshows and huge public meetings were limited this year because the foot soldiers of the VHP and Bajrang Dal refused to join.
National leadership is far from the reality until Modi overcome the hindutva cult. However, Modi has succeeded in capturing the imagination of Gujarat people in terms of development; at least we have to acknowledge his victory with the good work he has done rather terming it as a religious polarisation. After all this is a part of democratic process and its acceptance is in the national interest.
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