Gujarat and Maharashtra civic polls: Narendra Modi wins local referendum
New Delhi: Demonetisation seemed to have had no adverse impact on the BJP as the party maintained its winning streak in civic polls. After winning maximum number of posts in Maharashtra and Gujarat civic elections, the BJP said “wisdom should now dawn on the Opposition parties stalling Parliament (on demonetisation) and the impasse should be resolved.
The BJP won one Lok Sabha seat each in Assam and Madhya Pradesh besides bagging a number of Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.
The BJP said that its performance in Maharashtra and Gujarat civic polls should be an “eye-opener” for the Opposition as people have indicated their support for demonetisation and dislike for those protesting against it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said BJP’s performance in parliamentary, assembly and local elections across India over the last few days illustrated that people wanted all-round progress and will not tolerate corruption and misgovernance.
“Over the last few days, we have seen the results of various polls, Parliamentary, Assembly and local polls across India.. Be it the Northeast, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat. BJP has performed very well. I thank the people,” tweeted Mr Modi.
He said these results across India “illustrate that people want all-round progress of the nation and will not tolerate corruption and misgovernance.”
Referring to his home state Gujarat, the Prime Minister said, “I salute the people of Gujarat for continued trust in the BJP. The BJP’s great win in local polls shows people’s strong faith in development politics.”
He congratulated party cadres of the state along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani for their hard work across the state. Mr Modi had on Monday hailed the party’s performance in local body polls in Maharashtra.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the BJP’s big gain in Maharashtra was an indication of which way the wind was blowing. “It is clear that people did not like the Opposition’s protest against the government’s action against black money and supported the (demonetisation) decision. The result is an eye-opener for the Opposition and an indication of which way the wind is blowing,” Mr Javadekar said.
Asked if the BJP sees the results as a referendum on demonetisation, Mr Javadekar said, “These were small but immediate elections after demonetisation. So it was significant.” He said these seats were strongholds of the Congress and the NCP.
