For the RSS, which had drafted its most energetic swayamsevak , Narendra Modi, into the BJP in 1986, it was a dream come true when the party completely swept away its rival, the Congress. The party won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the State in what has truly been a historic mandate.
The Congress, which had won 11 seats in 2009, drew a blank.
For the ruling BJP in the State, Gujarat was perhaps the most prestigious vote, with its CM being declared the party’s PM candidate in September 2013. Modi’s third consecutive victory in the Assembly elections in December 2013 had catapulted him to the national political arena, which no other CM has ever achieved. He created a clear single-party majority in India for the first time since 1984.
Modi, a Lok Sabha poll debutant, defeated Congress rival Madhusudan Mistry by a margin of 5.70 lakh votes in Vadodara. Shankarsinh Vaghela (Congress) lost in Sabarkantha.