Modi magic hardly entertaining in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi is often projected as the wizard who can revive the BJP, but his magic has hardly helped improve the party's tally in Lok Sabha from Gujarat.

In 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had to be content with 14 seats, which was seven seats less than the 1999 numbers. This time around, the number has gone up by just one. The state elects 26 MPs.

Many believe the party had done much better in the state under Keshubhai Patel, who in 1998 helped the BJP pocket 20 out of the 26 seats.

In the last Parliamentary elections, BJP lost the crucial Junagadh, Jamnagar and Amreli seats in Suarahtra that had always been a stronghold of BJP.

This year, BJP lost Rajkot seat for the first time since 1989. Interestingly, RSS has the largest number of branches in Rajkot in the entire country.

The 1998 Lok Sabha polls had seen Keshubhai help the party improve its tally to 20 from 16 seats in the 1996 general elections.