All losers are not losers, says Mamata Banerjee amid praise for Modi over BJP’s landslide win

PTI, May 23, 2019, 4:38 PM IST

New Delhi With the BJP heading for a historic win in the Lok Sabha polls, senior ministers and alliance partners credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for the victory described by many as a “tsunami”.

While there was euphoria in the BJP-led NDA camp, both the Congress and the Left parties were muted in their reactions after the trends clearly showed that they were heading towards another poll debacleafter 2014.

Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set to return to power Thursday as it led in 298 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 52, according to trends released by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to polls.

Senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Suresh Prabhu and Ramvilas Paswan were among those who credited Modi for the stupendous electoral triumph.

In a series of tweets, Singh said, “Spoke to Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi and the BJP National President Shri Amit Shah over the phone and congratulated them for BJP4India led NDA’s stupendous victory in these Lok Sabha Elections.

“This historic victory in the General Elections is the outcome of Modiji’s visionary leadership, Amit Shahji’s dynamism and the hard work of millions of BJP karyakartas on the ground,” he said, adding Modi is now all set to build a New India.

“It is not an election but Modi tsunami. I heartily congratulate Narendra Modi,” Consumer Affairs Minister and Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas Paswan said in a tweet. His ministerial colleague, the BJP’s Suresh Prabhu, also likened the win to a tsunami.

“It’s nothing short of a landslide, a political tsunami sweeping entire country, east or west, BJP is the best, is a reality. North to south people have voted for a clear, unambiguous choice… country must progress further under the leadership of Narendra Modi… ,” Prabhu said in tweet.

“Election results clear vote for performance, vision, leadership, huge outreach, charisma, non stop-24/7 hard work, service to nation by Narendra Modi,” he added.

Another minister Rajayavardhan Singh Rathore said,”My salute to the untiring workers of BJP and Jaipur rural, this is their service to the nation.”

If the trends stay until final results, the BJP would have improved on its 2014 performance when it had won 282 seats on its own in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Adding the seats won by its allies, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance could win 343 seats, up from 336 in 2014.

Staring at a massive defeat of the party, the Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said,”Congress party is feeling dejected and the trends are not in line with the expectations of the party. I would not jump to the results till complete counting has taken place.”

“If they (trends) hold, then Congress needs to introspect as to why it’s campaign failed to resonate with the people of the country,” he added.

Immediately after the poll outcome, cracks appeared in the opposition camp with CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan saying decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi led to divisions within the opposition. He asserted that the policies of the Congress scion opened the doors for Narendra Modi’s victory.

“We have some setbacks and we find that unfortunately Congress didn’t performed up to the mark,” senior leader of Nationalist Congress Party Majeed Memon told a TV channel.

“This is clear mandate for Modi led BJP government…caste combination looks good on paper but merely caste combination does not work. You need a big loud message that opposition did not had,” Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India said.

“Combination of (Narendra) Modi and (Amit) Shah is very unique and important. This victory is result of leadership of Modi and Shah and hard work of lakhs of party workers,” said Human
Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The BJP leaders said the poll outcome unambiguously indicated that the “grammar of politics is under transformation” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work has defeated the “negative” politics of opposition.

BJP’s vice president Vinay Sahasrabudhe said,”once again people have reposed their confidence in BJP and Modi in a big way. The trends indicate unambiguously that grammar of politics is under transformation”

Party’s spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain described the party’s excellent performance as “the victory of the developmental work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defeat of negative politics.”

He further said those who thought that by forming coalition based on caste politics they can defeat development, “this is the new era…Modi era…an era of development politics. Whoever will bring development, will win.”