Gujarat results show people are not happy with BJP: Shiv Sena

The BJP will form the government, but the mood of people is clear, says Sena MP Sanjay Raut as the Congress improved its seat tally

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gets ready to form the government for the sixth consecutive time in Gujarat, its ally Shiv Sena said the results show that people are not happy with the BJP in Gujarat. The Sena also continued to laud the Congress president Rahul Gandhi for leading his party “without bothering about the results”.

Senior Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut said that the BJP came to power in 2014 on the ‘Gujarat model’, but now the wave seems to have waned. (HT file photo)

Senior Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut’s comments came as the Congress increased its seat tally in Gujarat. Though the BJP would form the government in Gujarat, the mood of the people is clear. “Going by the mandate, it is now clear that the mood in Gujarat today is the mood of the country, as it was Gujarat which showed the path of victory [to the BJP],” he said. He added that the BJP came to power in 2014 based on the ‘Gujarat model’, but now the wave seems to have receded.

In a veiled attack at the BJP, he said: “Are those who think that nothing happened in the country in the previous 60 years and that the country has progressed only in the past three years humans or epitome of foolishness?”

On Monday, the Sena also continued to heap praise on Rahul Gandhi in its mouthpiece Saamana. In an editorial, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said: “Whatever be the result of the Gujarat election, the country has seen the rise of a new Rahul Gandhi. He has accepted responsibility as Congress president at a crucial stage. There should be no objection in wishing him all the best…Let him decide if he wishes to take the Congress party to the pinnacle of success or down the pit.”

This is not the first time the Sena has lauded Gandhi. Last month, Raut said that Gandhi is capable of leading the country and that the Modi wave has faded — a statement that did not go down well with the BJP. It is “wrong to call him [Gandhi] Pappu” as he has changed in the past three years, Raut had said.

The Marathi daily added that with the entry of Gandhi in the poll arena, the “faces of bigwigs [in the BJP] were turning black with the fear of defeat”.