Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Gujarat today for the massive, record-breaking mandate in the assembly elections, saying he was "humbled by your trust and faith in us". Speaking at the party headquarters in Delhi, PM Modi -- whose personal popularity and contribution to the victory is seen as the largest -- made light of his role.
"I had said during the campaign in Gujarat that this time that Narendra Modi's record (of 127 seats in 2002) has to be broken.... that Bhupendra (Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel) will break Narendra's record, and for that Narendra will work relentlessly and with all his heart and mind," he said. That, he added, "resonated with the people".
There was a word about the Chief Minister's personal achievement as well. "Today, Bhupendra-bhai Patel won his seat by over 2 lakh votes - that is phenomenal - to win an Assembly seat by 2 lakh votes is something that does not even happen to most in Lok Sabha seats," the Prime Minister said.
Mr Patel will continue as the Chief Minister of the state. He will take oath on Monday.
Speaking after party chief JP Nadda, who launched a no-holds-barred attack on Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, PM Modi's approach was milder. There was an arch reference to "exploiting the fault lines".
"Those political parties today that try to exploit the fault lines and pose new challenges to India from within just to make some political gains, those parties are being watch and understood by the people of the nation," PM Modi said.
"They might find a lot of things to exploit and divide the people, but there is one thing that unites us all - our motherland. And we in BJP work only for the benefit of the motherland. Today, BJP is the first choice of most people in India," he added.
Without naming anyone, he also warned the party workers against "fake news and lies".
"I will be targetted and you all will also be targeted… So be prepared. And how will you do that? By being patient and increase your sehen-shakti (forbearance)," he added. In this context, he even cited the post-Godhra riots of 2002. "After 2002, there has not been any aspect of my life that has not been shredded," he said.
The BJP raced to a 150-plus score within the first few hours of counting of votes today and firmly stayed there, keeping the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party confined to a combined score of less than 25. The party is currently leading on 156 seats – 57 more than 2017. The Congress is hoping to scrape up 17 seats and AAP has made its debut with five.