Gujarat Poll Results 2017 : These are the 5 things BJP and Congress need to focus on now

Gujarat election results 2017 : These are the 5 things BJP and Congress need to focus on now

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created history again. After a nervous start in the initial hours of voting today, BJP swung back into action and the trends showed a clear majority for BJP in Gujarat.

Early trends indicated a neck and neck race in Gujarat giving slight jitters to BJP workers. In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP looks all set to win over 44 out of 68 seats in the state. In both states, PM Narendra Modi led the BJP campaign from the front.

Seeking a sixth straight term in Gujarat, the BJP was ahead in 99 seats while the opposition Congress gets 79 seats, the Election Commission(EC) trends available showed.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is on course to win Rajkot West by a big margin, and so is Deputy CM Nitin Patel in Mehsana. The result has been pitched as a prestige battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

Exits polls have projected a victory for the BJP in both states. It has however been a narrow win for BJP in Gujarat as Congress has made inroads in the state politics by holding strong in the rural areas.

Here are the 5 major things that both BJP and Congress need to focus from now onwards.

5 things BJP needs to focus:

1.BJP needs to hear and focus on the pulse of people in the rural areas, where the party has seen dwindling numbers. Congress will take heart from this.

2. BJP has experienced disaffection even among unemployed youth. It is a wake up call after UP Assembly polls, BJP needs to focus on the youth and that mostly comes down to education and job creation.

3. Bharatiya Janata Party needs to work on its over-dependence on PM Narendra Modi. It was PM Modi’s relentless campaigning that has been touted as the big reason behind BJP’s win.

4. As compared to 2012 Assembly polls, BJP has seen a decline in the number of seats won. The BJP has fallen short of its 2012 tally of 115 seats.

5. Ahead of 8 Assembly Elections next year, BJP needs to fight the Rahul Gandhi factor especially as he has looked to play the Hindu card too as is evident from his temple hopping agenda. After the new Congress President’s campaign and the party’s impressive performance in the polls, BJP has to focus on Congress party’s move ahead of the big Karnataka Assembly polls next year.

5 things Congress needs to focus:

1. The Congress can take heart after a spirited campaign from its new chief Rahul Gandhi and continue its efforts in urban areas where it has faced defeat. It has not been able to dent the saffron fortress at all.

2. The Congress party has to focus on the present government’s failures and work to create leaders at the local level. It is too dependent on Rahul Gandhi. This forced it to go to Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and others.

3. Few key Congress leaders like Arjun Modwadia have faced defeat in the Assembly polls. It is clear that the old war horses are still ruling the Congress. They need to be replaced.

4. Congress needs to stop targetting BJP and PM Modi on economic issues like GST and Demonetisation and find some real issues to deal with ahead of next year’s big Assembly polls. Strong personal comments againt PM Modi have backfired before and Congress is still resorting to them – just check what Mani Shankar Aiyar said ahead of voting.

5. Congress leadership needs to be on the ground, improve its connectivity with people across the country. Congress stands accused of being on the ground with people during the voting season and not before or after that.