Gujarat poll results gave a massive jolt to BJP: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the results in the Gujarat assembly polls had given a massive jolt to the BJP, as it is a clear signal that their political propaganda is no longer working on the people.
“BJP has received a tremendous blow in Gujarat. PM Modi keeps trotting out the party line but the people of the country are no longer listening,” Rahul told reporters.
“I got to know that people in Gujarat do not approve of Modi ji’s model, the marketing and propaganda is very good but it is hollow from the inside, they could not answer our campaign,” he said.
He added that Monday’s outcome further showed that the credibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and by extension the BJP, has come into question.
“Modi ji ki credibility pe sawal uth gaya hai, Modi ji has a credibility problem,” Rahul said.
The Gandhi scion said the people of Gujarat had sent a message to PM Modi that the BJP’s politics of anger can be defeated by love, a method that the Congress had adopted.
“The people of Gujarat gave me a lot of love and the biggest lesson they taught me is that irrespective of your opponent’s anger or wealth, you can put up a good fight with love,” he added.
The BJP fought off a strong challenge from Rahul Gandhi -led Congress to win the Gujarat assembly polls for the sixth straight time on Monday, taking 99 seats in the 182-member assembly, down from 115 it won in 2012, and far lower than the 150-plus seats it had hoped for. The Congress, which had 61 in 2012, made inroads in the saffron bastion by securing 77 seats in the House.
When it became apparent that the Congress had lost out to the BJP, Rahul had tweeted that the party “accepts the verdict of the people and congratulates the new governments in both states.”
He also thanked his party members for fighting ” anger with dignity .”
The saffron party also wrested power from Congress in Himachal Pradesh, winning 44 of 68 seats while the ruling Congress was reduced to 20 seats.
The Congress party has steadily lost ground since the BJP swept to power in national elections in 2014. Congress has lost a series of state elections over the last three years, winning only the state of Punjab.