NEW DELHI: A day after the Gujarat result, Congress president
Rahul Gandhi said the polls had delivered BJP a "zabardast jhatka (terrific shock)" that exposed PM
Narendra Modi's credibility crisis, prompting BJP to respond that the leader was enjoying "defeat as victory".
In his first comments on the Gujarat election result where Congress ran rival BJP close, Rahul told reporters, "It is a very good result for us. Agreed that we lost and could have won, we fell short. But BJP suffered a massive jolt in Gujarat. People of Gujarat do not accept Modi's model. It is high on propaganda but it's hollow."
Senior BJP leader and HRD minister
Prakash Javadekar said Rahul was under an illusion that the Gujarat polls were a jolt to the ruling party. "We (BJP) won both state assembly elections and in Gujarat for the sixth time. Actually this is a jolt for Congress," he said.
'Rahul enjoying defeat as victory'
Javadekar alleged that Congress adopted divisive politics in Gujarat, but people put their faith in Modi and his development agenda. "It seems Rahul Gandhi is under an illusion and he is enjoying defeat as victory. This shows his dynastic arrogance and is an insult to the people's mandate," he said.
Speaking to the media in Parliament, Rahul said Modi was claiming the election was contested on the issue of development and was a stamp of approval on GST, but the PM did not mention development or speak of a referendum on GST or demonetisation in his election speeches.
"It has raised a big question about Modi's credibility. And frankly, Modi suffers from a credibility problem. He will find it difficult in future because the country is not listening to what he is saying and what his party is repeating. The Gujarat election has shown this and it will become more clear in future," he said.
Intensifying his attack, Rahul said the PM spoke incessantly about corruption but did not utter a word about the Rafale deal or BJP chief Amit Shah's son Jay Shah. "Why does the PM not say a word on this? It is an issue of credibility," he claimed.
Congress has been buoyed by the result after BJP slipped from its 2012 tally to 99 seats while Congress notched its best performance in decades. BJP contests the claim that it suffered damage across the state, pointing out that most of Congress gains in terms of seats were in
Saurashtra.
In an allusion to controversial remarks from Modi, Rahul said the Gujarat elections had sent out a message to BJP and the PM that "your anger will not serve any purpose and it will be defeated by love".
Reacting sharply to Rahul's remark, Javadekar said it was Congress which was losing credibility among people because of which the party was losing election after election. After Monday's victory in Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh, BJP-led NDA is in office in 19 states.
Attributing BJP's success to Modi's development model, Javadekar said it had worked and "caught the imagination of people". He also rejected Congress allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal, saying it was a "very transparent" defence procurement unlike in the Congress regime.
"This is a government-to-government deal, and it is not Bofors and there is no Quattrocchi here," he said, referring to the Bofors kickbacks scandal and the late Italian middleman.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
