Results of the closely-watched Gujarat elections came out today, bringing a decidedly lower margin of victory than last time. The BJP crossed the 92 seats it needs for a majority in the 182-member Gujarat assembly, but struggled to make the psychological 100 mark, ending with 99 seats. The Congress performed their best in the state in 32 years, getting 80 seats. Many analysts have called the election a pivotal moment: a hugely important election not only for Gujarat but also for national politics. The win for the BJP was seen as reviving the momentum for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah in the run up to the next Lok Sabha elections.
Follow NDTV's special coverage as Prannoy Roy and his team analyse the Gujarat election results:
BJP's loss confined to in and around Saurashtra, says Arun Jaitley
- This could be because of agrarian reasons. We will analyse that
- Hardik Patel's caste campaign was a very vicious one
- Would've been happier if we won more seats
- The old system was so oppressive, GST removed all that
Shiromani Akali Dal's Naresh Gujral says this is not a victory of the BJP by a victory of PM Modi
- I don't see the BJP getting majority in 2019. Coalitions are going to come back. The age of arrogance is over. There is huge anti-incumbency
- BJP needs a Vajpayee touch for a rainbow coalition. I am sure they will rectify it before 2019
Arti Jerath says the Scheduled Tribes have been traditional Congress voters"The Congress made a strategic mistake by wooing the Patels through Hardik Patel and ignoring the Scheduled Tribes," she says
"In Scheduled Tribe seats, the BJP made a breakthrough. This was the biggest weakness of the party," says Chandan Mitra
Caste, and how it mattered in Gujarat elections
Sagarika Ghose says "Jignesh, Alpesh, Hardik constitute a fundamental challenge to PM Modi. The Congress is gaining in 18-25 age groups"
Jignesh Mevani says people love to see the youth coming into politics. "Same is the case with Hardik Patel. That's why they loved us," he says.
- No matter how strong your voice is in the streets but you need to have voice in the House. I will become a voice of the voiceless in the assembly
- My programme starts tomorrow morning and will hold a programme to submit memorandum with certain issue to the authorities
- This result will have a tremendous effect in 2019. Gujarat model is exposed like never before and first time the BJP came down to double digit numbers
- We (Hardik, Alpesh) are not just representing the particular castes but the people of Gujarat
- I don't know why I have been given the Dalit tag. Mobilisation on the lines of caste leads to more alienation. I want to work beyond caste across the country along with everyone to contain the fascist BJP
Prannoy Roy says "it is a fantastic election because a lot of factors came in behind BJP's decline. One is Saurashtra, the other factor is the lower turnout of women. Another factor is the role of alliance the Congress made"
"There has been a feeling among people that BJP turned very arrogant. Most fingers are turned to Amit Shah and state leadership," says journalist and author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
Senior journalist Arti Jerath says this time there was a much clearer rural-urban divide in Gujarat
The GST factor in Gujarat elections
Senior BJP leader Chandan Mitra says there was a lot of anger in Surat"But BJP rectified these things very fast," he adds
BJP has to face the headwind of GST and Demonetisation, says Sheshadri Chari
Seshadri Chari says, "There are some factors which should be rectified in time... Anti-incumbency is a factor"
How women voters affected the Gujarat verdict
Congress failed to break into the urban bastion of BJP, says senior journalist Arti Jerath
Some BJP voters did not feel as strongly to make the BJP lose, says senior journalist Shekhar Gupta
Nearly 80 per cent of voters decide who to vote for very early on, says BJP's Seshadri Chari
Journalist and author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay says "The Congress did not have answers for the awkward questions BJP was raising"
How phase 2 campaigning affected the result in Gujarat
The Congress culture is of respecting the office of the PM, says Ashok Gehlot- We did damage control (after Mani Shankar Aiyar's comment against PM Modi)
- In two to three days, we will conduct a post-mortem of our performance and then we will be able explain the results completely
Congress leader Ashok Gehlot says the Gujarat elections has started the clock on the BJP's fortunes- I am happy the Congress campaigned with great dignity
- It is for the first time that despite such a result, people are congratulating us
- Rahul Gandhi talked of farmers, employment, youth. PM couldn't do so
- The kind of politics and environment of intimidation and fear that PM Modi and Amit Shah are practicing affected the elections
"Travelling in Gujarat, you really felt the overtly expressed anger of people in Saurashtra," says senior journalist Sagarika Ghose
The BJP lost 13 seats in Saurashtra, while the Congress gained 15
The narrative of this election is all about Saurashtra, says Prannoy RoySaurashtra has a high density of farmers (73 per cent) and Patels (55 per cent) and both these tended to go against the BJP
Even though the Congress lost Gujarat, it was a result better than last time. In fact, this is the best performance by the Congress in Gujarat since 1985
Prannoy Roy: Why is the BJP's win a setback, and why is going down considered to be going down fighting? We aim to find the answers