Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said the Gujarat election results raise questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s credibility after he led the BJP to a narrow victory in the state. Gandhi also hit out at Modi’s Gujarat model of development, describing it as “good propaganda” and marketing, but “hollow from within”.

“I came to know there that people of Gujarat actually do not accept Modiji’s model,” the Congress president said.

The BJP won 99 seats in the 182-member assembly, down from 115 it won in 2012, and far lower than the 150-plus seats it had hoped for. It is also the first time in 22 years that the BJP has ruled Gujarat that its tally has fallen below 99. The Congress won 77 seats, up by 16 seats

Gandhi called it a “very good result” for the Congress, and a moral victory. “A big question has been raised on Modiji’s credibility. Frankly, Modiji has a credibility problem and he will find it very difficult... Because what he is saying, his forces and his organisation are repeating that.

“But the country is not listening to that. This, the Gujarat election has shown. In the coming times, you will see this clearly,” he said.

He said Gujarat has given a message to the BJP and Modi that the anger within them would not work, Gandhi said. One can defeat opponents only with love and brotherhood, he said, a day after the election results were announced.

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