After second blow to Cong, BJP says next stop is Delhi

New Delhi: The big victory in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections is the second major electoral gain for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in less than a week and an elated BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the downfall of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Congress has begun.

"It is 100 per cent on expected lines because the change was very, very evident in Himachal so we knew that BJP is going to form the government and as regards the attribution the total attribution is to the BJP workers and leaders there," Sushma Swaraj replied when asked if the results were on expected lines.

After delivering a second blow to the Congress in a week, BJP leaders warned that the verdicts in Himachal Pradesh and earlier in Gujarat proved the Congress was bound to lose Lok Sabha elections only 18 months away.

Party General Secretary Sushma Swaraj gloated in New Delhi: "The BJP victory is not going to be limited to Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. These are trailers of the Lok Sabha election."

Senior BJP leader LK Advani said the victory vindicated the BJP’s agenda of good governance.

"Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are testimony to the victory of the agenda of good and honest governance. We have achieved it," Advani said.

Arun Jaitley, another BJP general secretary, added: "With the victory in Himachal, the (BJP-led) NDA (National Democratic Alliance) is in power in 10 states. Seven of them are with the BJP alone."

Another party leader, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said: "Himachal Pradesh will fuel our resurgence at the national level."

Swaraj also rubbished reports that the BJP was a divided house in Himachal.

"(A) Very united face of the BJP went to polls and there was no faction. Had there been factions then the projection of Prem Kumar Dhumal would have adversely affected but it did not. So Shantaji also knew. When we projected Prem Kumar Dhumal we did it with the consent of Shantaji and with his blessing. The second thing is the anti-incumbency factor was one but people also drew comparison with the BJP government earlier and that’s why they favoured BJP and opted for BJP against Congress," she said.

"Very significant. The countdown for the UPA and Congress in particular has started," a smiling Swaraj said.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma tried to maintain a brave front and rejected any link between the verdicts in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

"Historically there has been a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. It will be wrong to link Gujarat with Himachal. It must still be acknowledged that the congress still has a powrerful presence in Gujarat and HP," he said.

Source: www.ibnlive.com