Modi wave has now turned into a tsunami: Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: The final tally was still awaited when an exuberant BJP chief Amit Shah addressed the media at the party headquarters here to declare that the two decisive victories in Maharashtra and Haryana on Sunday, have established once again that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's credential as the "undisputed leader" in the country and also that BJP had moved forward on its mission to achieve a "Congress-free India". These, according to Shah, were the two most significant messages BJP derived from the results.

"These elections have proved that Modiji is the undisputed leader ... people have acknowledged the Modi government's work at the Centre. The kind of response that Modi's campaign rallies got during the poll campaign has ended any debate on whether the Modi magic stopped working after the Lok Sabha polls. The Modi wave has now turned into a tsunami," Shah said, in his opening remarks on Sunday afternoon taking on those who questioned whether Modi's charm has worn off after BJP fared badly in the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in August.

The BJP president admitted that it was the Prime Minister's campaign that made the difference in a situation where Shah and Modi had together taken a calculated risk in contesting the polls without their erstwhile allies. "That prospects were good and hence we were not wrong in asking for more share of seats has been vindicated by the results," asserted Shah.

Shah said the rout of Congress in both states has brought the BJP closer to its avowed objective. "Two more steps forward in the party's mission to achieve a Congress-mukt Bharat (Congress-free India)," is how Shah described it.

To reiterate the fact that defeating Congress is as important for the party as its own victory, Shah said, "Congress has been reduced to a poor third position in both states where it does not even have the numbers to get the post of leader of the opposition in the assemblies."

After his first big success since the LoK Sabha polls, Shah proudly elaborated on the victory margins. The party won 74 seats in Maharashtra on Sunday where it was contesting for the first time and its vote share had almost doubled from 14% last time to 27.7% in this round. In Haryana, Shah said the party had grown from 9% vote share last time to 33.2% this time.