New Delhi: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged a clear winner in Gujarat on Sunday, some party leaders said it was Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's controversial 'merchants of death' remark that may have helped Chief Minister Narendra Modi turn the tide in his favour.
According to BJP sources, even Modi believed that it was Gandhi's comments and the subsequent war of words between the two parties that helped him "invoke Gujarati 'asmita' (pride) and regain his ground" in the state.
Modi is believed to have confessed to his friends that he was doubtful about his party's prospects till the issue had not flared up in the media.
"The Congress campaign had clearly scared Modi. Their campaign on Gujarat development was really picking up," a BJP leader, who spoke to Modi, told IANS.
Gandhi, who was pitted against Modi in the electoral battle, did not react to the Gujarat results till Sunday afternoon.
The Congress campaign had been focussed on developmental issues, during which it tried to "expose" Modi's claims on Gujarat's developments till Modi riposted Gandhi's comments made at an election rally in Gujarat's Navsari town on December 1.
Gandhi was quoted as saying: "The truth is that in today's Gujarat, those who run the government are liars, corrupt and merchants of religion and death."
Modi was quick to react to it. On the day Gandhi's comments appeared in the newspapers, he reportedly said in an election rally in Ankleshwar in south Gujarat: "I promise that I will not allow the merchants of death to thrive in Gujarat. I want absolute peace in the state."
Said a young BJP leader: "Modi, being a leader who knows where to hit and how to strike a chord with the voters, immediately highlighted Gandhi's vicious remarks and played it beautifully.
"The Congress chief's remarks and the following controversy have polarised the votes in Gujarat in favour of the BJP," added the leader.
Modi then justified the alleged staged killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a Muslim criminal from Madhya Pradesh, by the Gujarat Police in 2005 and challenged Gandhi and the Congress-led government in New Delhi to hang him if he was at fault in the case.
At an election rally in Jamnagar district December 4, Modi admitted that Sheikh's encounter did happen in Gujarat, saying the latter got what he deserved. "Yes, Sohrabuddin's encounter happened in Gujarat, and if Sonia Gandhi wants she can hang me for this," said Modi.
The local media had then carried advertisements saying: "Because of jealousy about Narendra Modi, Gujarat is abused."
When the Election Commission sought an explanation for his much-criticised remarks, Modi asked the panel to take action against Gandhi for her remarks. The flip-flops in the Congress party, whose leaders have given contradictory statements about whom Gandhi meant by her remark, also apparently helped Modi to "prove his point".
The poll panel, however, expressed displeasure over the speeches of both the leaders.
However, Congress leaders refused to hold Gandhi responsible for the party's defeat.
"Why should she speak now? I am taking the responsibility. It is my failure," said B K Hariprasad, the Congress general secretary in charge of Gujarat.
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