Major blow to BJP in Gujarat

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, SEPT. 22. The Congress today inflicted a major blow to the ruling BJP in Gujarat capturing both the Sabarkantha Lok Sabha and the Sabarmati Assembly seats, byelections for which were held on September 20.

After the near-total clean-up of the party in the district and taluka panchayat and the municipal corporation elections last year, the defeat in the byelections has come as a rude jolt to the leadership of the Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel.

Mr. Patel was not only the star campaigner for the party, but the ``performance'' of his Government was also the main political plank.

Unlike other byelections, it would not be easy for the Chief Minister to wish away today's outcome as being merely byelection for one Assembly seat because the party's national vice-president and in-charge of Gujarat affairs, Mr. Madanlal Khurana, described the Sabarmati seat, a segment of the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani's Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency, as a ``prestige fight''. The State Government, with the support of the Centre, left no stone unturned to retain the seat and even tried to make political use of the revival of the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank, in which Mr. Advani himself played a major role.

Though the outcome would not tilt the balance in the 182-member Assembly with the BJP holding 115 seats, the defeat may force the party's central leadership to rethink on Mr. Patel.

The Congress victory margin of over 18,000 votes in an Assembly constituency which recorded less than 34 per cent polling and previously held by the BJP, indicated of a total wash out for the ruling party. In Sabarkantha, however, the hero of the Gujarati film world and Deputy Speaker, Mr. Upendra Trivedi, managed to reduce the BJP's margin of defeat.

The victory in Sabarkantha of Mr. Madhusudan Mistry, former RJP president, till it merged with the Congress, is seen as a triumph for Mr. Shankersinh Waghela.

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Section  : National
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