After civic poll wins, BJP hits out at Rahul

On the back of its impressive victories in Gram Panchayat elections in Maharashtra and local body by-polls in Gujarat, the BJP on Tuesday described Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against party President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s alleged corruption as a sign of “desperation at slipping political ground”.

The BJP won 1,457 of the total 3,884 Gram Panchayats for which elections were held on October 7. The Congress has won in 301, Shiv Sena 222 and NCP in 194. In the local body bypolls in Gujarat, the BJP has won six of the total eight seats where elections were held and the Congress has won two.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described this victory as a sign of people’s faith in the BJP’s agenda for development and congratulated the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “I congratulate the BJP in Maharashtra and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the impressive performance in Gram Panchayat polls across the State,” said Modi on his Twitter handle.

The PM said the results show that the farmers and the rural poor have reposed faith in the BJP’s development agenda.

“Wonderful victory of the BJP in rural areas shows the unwavering support of the farmers, youth and poor for the BJP’s development agenda,” the PM tweeted.

The BJP fielded senior Maharashtra leader and Education Minister Prakash Javadekar at the party headquarters to target the Congress’s “empty rhetoric”.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s attack on Modi and Amit Shah on social media, Javadekar said, “Your Twitter campaign should have some basis in ground reality. Empty rhetoric does not impress anyone. The BJP has been winning everywhere in Maharashtra and Gujarat and the Congress is continuously losing ground.”

Quoting previous victories in local bodies, Zila Parishads, etc, Javdekar said, “The entire rural Maharashtra has consistently chosen BJP since 2014. Of the 21 city corporations, 13 are with the BJP which has a total of 871 corporators across the state. The Shiv Sena has 428, the Congress 325 and the NCP 252 corporators. In Zila Parishads across Maharashtra, BJP is number one in 406, NCP in 360, the Congress 309 and Shiv Sena in 271. After 2014 when Maharashtra chose the BJP with 123 MLAs, the countrywide trend follows in all local elections.”

In local body by-elections in Gujarat on Tuesday, the BJP won six of total eight and the Congress in two. “I have just come from Ahmedabad. People are electing the BJP and they trust Narendra Modi. It’s a reverse scenario in Congress. That is why they are desperate and making baseless allegations against our top leaders,” said Javdekar.