In the recent election in Gujarat, the Congress has been bested by the BJP. The BJP fought off a strong challenge from Rahul Gandhi-led Congress to win the Gujarat assembly surveys for the sixth straight time and also wrested power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh with a close to two-thirds majority. And it has done so in face of a project where the BJP had actually pulled all stops, and initial missteps like the desertion of its highest leader in the state, Shankersinh Vaghela.
Congress’s Gujarat in-charge Ashok Gehlot today said the party would focus more on urban locations, following its miserable efficiency in significant cities in the state Assembly elections last month.
Talking to press reporters here, Mr. Gehlot said the lead to urban constituencies were unanticipated, as the popular mood appeared to be in the Congress’s favor.
“Survey results in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Rajkot were quite disappointing. It was not anticipated, looking at people’s state of mind, particularly in Surat. The outcomes were completely unforeseen and beyond our understanding,” stated the Congress basic secretary.
“So we have actually decided to concentrate on cities and deal with the problems of city-dwellers to reinforce the party in metropolitan locations. We will continue raising the problems worrying the rural population too. The Congress would do the same thing in other parts of the country too,” he added.
The Congress, which installed a difficult battle with the incumbent BJP in the December 2017 Gujarat elections, got a significant obstacle in city areas. The opposition party won only four from 36 seats throughout the 4 significant cities.
The Congress won 4 out of 16 seats in the Ahmedabad city, while it cannot open the account in Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot cities, where the BJP made a clean sweep.
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who had supported the Congress, too had announced after the election results that his attire would focus more on cities.
The Congress, which had 61 in 2012, likewise improved its vote share, which touched 41.4%– a two percent boost. The Congress was likewise assisted by young Patidar and Dalit leaders Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mewani in its campaign against the BJP. That is not enough for them. Presently their primary focus will be on metropolitan areas.
The Congress now rules only Karnataka and Punjab among the significant states, besides Puducherry, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Karnataka elections are due next year. Maybe it is really a good decision for Congress but till date, they haven’t any plan and schedule, how they are going to get support from urban areas. After all ultimate acceptance is always required from the public. This is only the gap they have an extract from their calculation. Only the gap they have found. But the main thing is that how to fulfill the gap and when it will be effective.
