Jairam Ramesh's 'Prachar Mantri' swipe at PM Modi as BJP loses Himachal poll
Jairam Ramesh said that Congress managed to win the elections even after the PM's high voltage campaign in the home state of the BJP national president JP Nadda.
As the Indian National Congress (INC) registered a victory in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election, veteran leader of the party Jairam Ramesh took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that the party failed to retain the government in the state despite the PM Narendra Modi's high voltage campaign.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP national President who hails from the hill state, Ramesh said that Congress managed to win the elections even after the PM's high voltage campaign in the home state of the BJP President JP Nadda.
He also called the PM a "Prachar Mantri".
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"The Himachal Pradesh result is a definite morale booster for the Congress. The PM (Prachar Mantri)'s high voltage campaign in the home state of the BJP President failed significantly. The pledges made to the people of Himachal by the Congress will be fulfilled," Jairam Ramesh wrote in his tweet on Thursday.
While the BJP bagged 25 seats in Himachal, the Congress party is tipped to win 40 of the 68 Assembly seats, keeping the alternative government tradition.
In Himachal Pradesh, Independent candidates won three seats while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to open its account in the state. The others in the fray, including Independents, combined to garner a further 10.4 per cent vote share in the hill state.
The Congress, which had not projected a chief ministerial candidate for the hill state, has planned to hold a meeting of its victorious MLAs in Chandigarh, amid fears of 'poaching' by the BJP.
Also Read | What Himachal verdict, Congress’s 1st win after 18 losses, means for the party
Jairam Ramesh, while commenting on the result of the Gujarat Assembly election, called it a "disappointing" result and added that only Congress was the "only alternative" in Gujarat.
"The result in Gujarat is disappointing. Congress was up against- a 3 party alliance of BJP, AAP, and MIM --a campaign of provocative polarisation --machinery of state and Centre," Ramesh said adding that the vote shares for the Congress in Gujarat is for rebuilding and revival for the party.
The BJP today registered a phenomenal victory in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state.
The Congress was seen as putting up a token campaign in Gujarat, where it won 77 seats in 2017.
According to the latest information from the Election Commission, BJP is poised to win 156 seats in the 182-member Gujarat assembly having already won 142 seats and leading on 14 seats. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made its entry in the state assembly having won five seats. The party has increased its vote percentage to 12.82 per cent in an indication of its growing presence in the state.