As the colossal majority of Gujarat voters stamped their approval on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortations during poll rallies, the astonishing record win left the world amazed. The scale of BJP‘s victory – winning 156 seats to break Congress’ 37-year-old record in the state – was widely reported by the global news outlets.
The Straits Times of Singapore, the Nikkei Asia, Al Jazeera, Independent, ABC News were among the global publications that displayed photographs of jubilant celebrations of the BJP’s win in Gujarat.
British publication The Guardian reported that PM Modi had given a significant boost to his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a sign of the party’s enduring popularity before a general election due in 2024.
Citing how BJP has not lost a Gujarat assembly election since 1995, Japan’s Nikkei Asia attributed this win to Modi’s popularity in the state of Gujarat.
“(PM Narendra) Modi is wildly popular in the state, where he served as chief minister for nearly 13 years before becoming prime minister in 2014,” the newspaper said.
The Japanese daily said PM Modi held a series of campaign rallies in the state, lending his star power to the BJP’s campaign. “Many residents take pride in the fact that the Gujarat-born Modi represents India at the global level, and feel a sense of responsibility to support him,” the newspaper added.
The UK-based The Independent said the record win in Gujarat is a big boost to the BJP ahead of the national elections in 2024.
Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Ajay Gudavarthy told Al Jazeera that the BJP’s comfortable win in Gujarat shows a deeper consolidation of the Hindu vote.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi, on his personal Twitter account, thanked the people of Gujarat saying, they blessed the politics of development.
“Thank you Gujarat. I am overcome with a lot of emotions seeing the phenomenal election results. People blessed politics of development and at the same time expressed a desire that they want this momentum to continue at a greater pace. I bow to Gujarat’s Jan Shakti,” PM Modi tweeted.
“To all hardworking @BJP4Gujarat Karyakartas I want to say – each of you is a champion! This historic win would never be possible without the exceptional hard work of our Karyakartas, who are the real strength of our Party,” he added.
BJP’s unprecedented victory margin in Gujarat despite running the state for nearly three decades signals the consolidation of Modi’s popularity in his home state.
“When elections approach, anti-incumbency is…often discussed by political experts and critics who assume that people will vote against the incumbent government,” Modi had said in one of his rallies in Surendranagar on November 21. “But Gujarat has proved them wrong by establishing a culture of pro-incumbency as it has repeatedly chosen BJP.”
(With inputs from ANI)
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