Five Guj ministers bite the dust
DRUBBING Stalwarts lose to Congress candidates; MP Kakade who predicted BJP’s loss says he didn’t factor in Modi’s charisma
ministers in the Gujarat government lost the assembly polls on Monday to Congress candidates even as the ruling BJP secured a simple majority to retain power in the western state.
Of these, Atmaram Parmar and Chimanbhai Sapariya are cabinet ministers. Parmar, a prominent Dalit leader of the BJP, bit the dust against Congress’ Pravinbhai Maru in Gadhada (SC) seat in Botad district. Maru scored 69,457 votes against Parmar’s 60,033.
Sapariya went down fighting against Congress’ Chiragbhai Kalariya in Jamjodhpur constituency. Kalariya’s tally stood at 64,212, while Sapariya ended up clinching 61,694 votes.
Shankar Chaudhary, Keshaji Chauhan, and Shabdsharan Tadvi are the three ministers of state who failed to retain their respective seats.
Chaudhary lost to Congress’ Geniben Thakor. Chaudhary secured 95,673 votes against Thakor’s tally of 1,02,328 votes.
Chauhan failed to taste victory by a narrow margin of 972 votes from Deodar constituency. He was defeated by Shivabhai Bhuriya of the Congress. Bhuriya pocketed 80,432 votes against Chauhan’s 79,460.
Tadvi was uprooted by Congress’ Premsinh Vasava in Nandod (ST) seat. Vasava bagged 81,849 votes and Tadvi 75,520.
DIDN’T FACTOR IN MODI CHARISMA: KAKADE
Pune BJP MP Sanjay Kakade, who hogged the headlines for predicting a dismal show by his party in the Gujarat elections, had to eat his words after it won a majority in the 182-member assembly.
AHMEDABAD:Five
An embarrassed Kakade said he had not factored in the impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “charisma” while making the prediction. “We forgot to take into account the Modi charisma. Neither me nor my team factored that in our survey,” the Rajya Sabha member told reporters.
“Modi’s charisma did the trick. Modi is the real hero and I am zero,” quipped Kakade, and said he is happy that his prediction has gone wrong. Because of the PM, the BJP has created history in Gujarat, Kakade said.
Asked if his forecast amounted to anti-party activity, Kakade noted he had not said anything against the BJP. Last week, despite most exit poll surveys predicting a BJP win, Kakade said: “Forget absolute majority, the party will not even get enough number of seats to form the government. The Congress will reach close to the majority mark.”