Shiv Sena takes a dig at BJP over Gujarat local body polls, says Congress has won despite losing

Mumbai: Describing the results of Gujarat local body polls as a "win for Congress despite losing", NDA ally Shiv Sena Friday said it indicates that people of Gujarat do not stand behind the Prime Minister completely and the BJP needs to evaluate why "alarm bells" have started ringing on Narendra Modi's home pitch.

The Sena also said that it needs to be studied why the BJP lost in rural areas if the state is claimed to be 'number one' in terms of development.

Sena said the results indicate that the people of Gujarat do not stand behind the Prime Minister completely and that the BJP needs to evaluate why "alarm bells" have started ringing on Narendra Modi's home pitch.

Out of power for 20 years, the Congress made a stunning comeback in the rural areas of Gujarat where it won 21 of the 31 district panchayats and around 110 of the 230 taluka panchayats, while the BJP retained its hold over urban pockets clinching all six municipal corporations and 40 of 56 municipalities.

After its battering in Bihar, the loss in rural local bodies in Gujarat comes more than a year after Narendra Modi, who ruled the state for 12 years, shifted to Delhi.

"The results of the civic body polls only indicate that the people of Gujarat do not stand behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi completely. Though the BJP has won all six municipal corporations, one cannot say that the Congress got defeated," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.

"The municipal corporations will be ruled by the BJP and the Zilla Parishads by the Congress. In short, the Congress has won the election despite losing it. The BJP now needs to evaluate why alarm bells have started ringing on Narendra Modi's home pitch," it said.

The ruling alliance partner also said that the Congress getting a new lease of life in the Bihar Assembly elections is fine, but the party doing well in Modi's home state is a matter of grave concern.

"A study needs to be conducted on why people went against the BJP in rural areas if the picture of Gujarat being portrayed as the number one state in terms of development was true," it said.

"In a democracy, the electorate is supreme which has shown its place to the biggest of politicians. The PM had given a call of a Congress-free India, but after Bihar, the Congress has now risen in Gujarat as well," the Sena said, adding "the results have given an opportunity for Congress to rejoice."