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We lost out to Hindutva: Cong.

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI DEC. 15. The Congress has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party's "Hindutva'' campaign for its defeat in the elections to the Gujarat Assembly. The AICC general secretary in-charge of the State, Kamal Nath, said today that his party had been "done in" by the "intensity of the Hindutva wave.''

Neither the party leadership in the State nor those in-charge of the election campaign at the AICC had fathomed the depth of the "Hindutva" fervour or the post-Godhra religious polarisation. "They also spread the canard that there would be a Muslim backlash if the BJP won,'' Mr. Nath told mediapersons. The AICC headquarters bore a deserted look and most of the leaders appeared stunned and surprised by the extent of the BJP's victory.

Senior leaders cited cold statistics to drive home the point that the post-Godhra events had polarised the polity in Gujarat on communal lines. The Congress had lost 52 of the 65 seats in the riot-hit areas, and failed to win a single seat within a 100-mile radius of Godhra. The extent of polarisation, as also the manner in which it overcame all other considerations including caste, was borne out by the results from central Gujarat, the epicentre of the post-Godhra riots. The BJP won 42 of the 50 seats from the area.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, chose not to react publicly. She asked the State leaders to furnish a report on the debacle. She is likely to confer with the Gujarat Congress chief, Shankarsinh Waghela, Amarsinh Choudhray and Mr. Nath tomorrow. Though Mr. Waghela has reportedly offered to resign, it is unlikely that Ms. Gandhi will accept his resignation.

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