As the Congress sank to its worst-ever performance in Gujarat, Shashi Tharoor, a senior leader from the party, said, "I am neither somebody who campaigned in Gujarat nor am I on the list of those who were expected to campaign so not having been on the ground, it's extremely difficult for me to give you an answer." Mr Tharoor's omission from the Congress' list of campaigners in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh came after he ran for Congress President against Mallikarjun Kharge, who was the choice of the Gandhis. The link between those two events seemed pronounced.
The BJP has racked up a humongous result in Gujarat, collecting more than 150 seats of 182 seats. It's a record not just for the party, but for the state and it demolishes the record set in 1985 when the Congress won 149 seats.
"It's striking that anti-incumbency seems to have worked for us and against the BJP in Himachal, whereas in Gujarat, it did not," Mr Tharoor told NDTV at Parliament today. Admitting what the Congress is usually reluctant to acknowledge, he said, "The role of AAP has also played spoiler in some ways in taking away votes." Arvind Kejriwal's party is headed for about six seats in Gujarat, far more modest than what it expected, though the result gives it a foothold in a state with a long history of bipolarity, with the only two choices being seen as Congress or the BJP.
The BJP has secured a seventh consecutive term in Gujarat - another record. Its victory is owed to the central role played by the PM who campaigned across his home state, holding more than 30 rallies. Rahul Gandhi, the biggest star of the Congress, held two.
In Himachal Pradesh, early results suggested a near-tie for the BJP and the Congress, but by early afternoon, the Congress was firmly in the lead with 35 seats of a possible 68.
Mr Tharoor's relationship with his party appears frosty since he took his shot at becoming President in October. A recent tour of Kerala by him - he is the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvanvathapuram - triggered criticism from within the Congress whose leaders alleged that he did not have sanction for the trip.
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