AAP mocks Rahul Gandhi's 'ocean swim'; likens to Congress' drubbing in Gujarat civic polls

Jubilant over its entry into the Gujarat electorate, AAP on Thursday, trolled the Congress over its abysmal performance in the recently concluded civic polls. Sharing a video from Rahul Gandhi's recent trip to Kerala where he went for a swim in the ocean with fishermen, AAP claimed  'What did Rahul Gandhi do to Congress? Drowned it'. AAP made its debut in Gujarat, winning  27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation, while BJP continued its dominance in the Modi-Shah home turf. 

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AAP trolls Congress over Gujarat civic polls

On Wednesday, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha rubbed salt on Congress' wound by alleging that Rahul Gandhi is the "biggest asset" of BJP. Highlighting that Congress is getting wiped out in state after state, he stressed that people have lost confidence in the Sonia Gandhi-led party. AAP MLA Raghav Chadha remarked, "The people of Gujarat have validated Arvind Kejriwal's development model. For many years, there was a demand in Gujarat that an alternative should emerge. But Congress was not able to provide that alternative."

Buoyed by Gujarat performance, AAP rubs it in; dubs Rahul Gandhi as BJP's 'biggest asset'

BJP retains power

BJP's dominance in electoral politics continued on Tuesday as it retained power in the Municipal Corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. Despite being in power for over 25 years in the state, BJP vastly improved its performance by winning 483 out of the total 576 seats across the 6 civic bodies as compared to the previous election where it bagged 389 seats. On the other hand, Congress was reduced to a paltry 55 seats from the 176 wins they had secured last time.

Meanwhile, AAP made an impressive debut in Gujarat by winning 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation whereas Congress was wiped out there. In Ahmedabad, AIMIM won 7 out of 21 seats which it contested. It is pertinent to note that 52.83 lakh out of the 1.14 crore voters had cast their votes on February 21, implying an average turnout of 46.08%. Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51%, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38%, followed by 50.72% in Rajkot, 49.46% in Bhavnagar, 47.84% in Vadodara and 47.14% in Surat.

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This development comes a year before the state's assembly polls - where BJP eyes to retain its turf, which it has held since 1995. Amid the rising Patidar agitation and the twin hit of GST and demonetisation, 2017 saw a shift in the voting trend towards Congress in the Assembly elections. While BJP managed to retain its turf by a small 7-seat majority, the face of the Patidar aggression- Hardik Patel joined the Congress - leading to a massive shift in loyalties - with some speculating that Patidars voted for AAP to avoid supporting Hardik Patel.

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