Bigger effort was needed from Congress to dislodge BJP in Gujarat: Dr Shastri

The exit polls are out and the BJP is the clear winner in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The Gujarat battle was in fact more closely watched and all exit polls now say that the BJP is the clear winner.

While there may be much for the BJP to rejoice, there is also some soul searching that needs to be done. The headline reads the BJP is retaining Gujarat. The deeper narrative however is that the BJP does not better its performance in the state when compared to 2012 says leading psephologist, Dr Sandeep Shastri.

The Congress has clearly not done enough explains Dr Shastri. To dislodge the BJP which has been in power, clearly a much bigger effort was needed, he says. For one, the Congress did not have a strong local leader on the ground. This was crucial for the Congress in case it had to beat the BJP in Gujarat.

These are all indications that the last mile advantage has gone to the BJP. The Gujarat voter clearly appears to have sided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Somewhere the Gujarat voter thought that they did not want to strike a blow to their Prime Minister who hails from the state, says Dr Shastri.

The Congress on the other hand has not put in enough effort for a recovery. As pointed out earlier, the Congress needed to field a strong face in the state A much bigger effort was needed to dislodge the BJP which has ruled the state for the past 22 years.

One cannot forget the fact that the BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the past 22 years. To dislodge the BJP in the state needed a much bigger effort.

However the BJP will have some soul searching to do as the exit polls suggest that it would retain the state. The exit polls do not indicate that the party would better its performance when compared to 2012, Dr Shastri also says. While the headline is that the BJP is retaining Gujarat, the deeper narrative is that it is not all good news and the party will have some soul searching to do.

OneIndia News