Rahul Gandhi today said Monday's election result in Gujarat is a "moral victory" for the party, stating it sends a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP that "your anger will not work, you can be defeated by love."
The Congress president alleged that while the BJP may have won Gujarat again, the state has rejected PM Modi's model of development as "good marketing, but shallow."He also attacked the Prime Minister for saying that the BJP's win in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh signal the people's approval of his government's reforms. "During his campaign Modi-ji did not talk about GST, demonetisation, but now he is saying that people have given it a thumbs up... he has a credibility problem. He will have huge problems in the future. No one is listening to him," Mr Gandhi said.The Congress, he said, "didn't win, but never mind. The result was good for us.
The BJP has retained Gujarat, but by a much lower margin of victory than last time, with the Congress posting its best result since 1985 in the state on Monday. The BJP crossed the majority mark at 92 seats but stopped one seat short of 100 in the 182-member Gujarat assembly. The Congress has narrowed the gap between the two parties, winning 80 seats, 19 more than last time.