Gujarat: Did AAP Help BJP By Making A Dent In Vote Bank Of Congress

 

Ahmedabad: This time BJP has scored a breaking victory in Gujarat. The biggest victory so far was achieved by the Congress in 1985 under the leadership of Madhav Singh Solanki. Then the Congress had won 149 seats. This time BJP has also broken Solanki's record.
Even though BJP has been winning elections continuously since 1995 in Gujarat, the vote share of Congress used to be around 40%.
As per the trends so far, the vote share of Congress is 27.3% and the vote share of Aam Aadmi Party is 12.9%. The Aam Aadmi Party has made a dent in the vote bank of the Congress itself and has played an important role in helping the BJP win a record victory.
In the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections, BJP's vote share was 49.1 percent and according to the trends so far, it seems to be getting around 53 percent votes.
In 2017, BJP had won 99 seats by securing 49.1 percent votes and this time it seems to win more than 157 seats with 53 percent votes. But due to the increase of about only three percent votes, is BJP getting such a huge victory.
Last time the vote share of Congress was 41.4 percent and it won 77 seats. This time Congress seems to be fighting for 27% votes.
If we add the votes of Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, then it is almost as much as Congress alone got in 2017.
In this sense, Aam Aadmi Party is being seen as a big villain in the defeat of Congress. It is clear that the AAP has also made a dent in the anti-BJP vote. Arvind Kejriwal is unable to make a dent in Narendra Modi's vote bank. Even AAP's Gujarat State President Gopal Italia and Alpesh Katheria could not win as many people were expecting.
During campaign, Congress was not visible on the ground. After BJP only AAP was visible. Arvind Kejriwal is successful in defeating the Congress, but the BJP is still difficult for him. The middle class of Gujarat is still very strongly associated with Narendra Modi. It is not easy for anyone to break it.

AAP's finding a foothold in the state could mark a change in the binary politics of Gujarat. Arvind Kejriwal has said that winning 15-20 per cent vote in Gujarat would be a big achievement for a party which celebrated its 10th birthday last month.