Gujarat election results 2017: Mamata Banerjee says it is a "face saving win" for the BJP.
Mamata Banerjee, the arch-critic of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has dubbed the party's victory in Gujarat as a "moral defeat". The people of the state have "belled the cat for 2019," said the leader, who has been exploring options to build a non-BJP front ahead of the general elections slated for 2019.
The BJP has crossed the 92 seats it needs for a majority in the 182-member Gujarat assembly, but is struggling to make the psychological 100 mark. The Congress is leading in around 80 seats.
Congratulating the people of Gujarat for their "very balanced verdict at this hour", Ms Banerjee said it was a "face-saving win" for the ruling party.
A tweet from the Bengal leader read:
The Trinamool Congress chief -- who always had cordial relations with former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi -- had recently congratulated Rahul Gandhi for his aggressive campaign in Gujarat, where the BJP had been in power for 22 years. Irrespective of the result of the election, she said Rahul Gandhi had won by "putting the BJP on the backfoot".
Ms Banerjee had ousted the Left Front after its 35-year rule in Bengal in 2012. Her conflict with the BJP-led government at the Centre has been a long one. Lately it had encompassed the notes ban and the Central government's Goods and Services tax.
In November she had met Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai. A senior leader of her party, Dereck O'Brien had indicated the two leaders had discussed politics.