New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday congratulated chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Manohar Lal Khattar, terming the assembly election victories in Maharashtra and Haryana as “exceptional and unprecedented” despite the party missing the majority mark in the latter and getting fewer seats than its 2014 tally in the former.
Modi said the party had increased its vote-share in Haryana by 3 per cent and performed quite well in Maharashtra.
Taking on the political pundits, Modi said those who are analysing the elections are missing out on the point that “these days, there aren’t many instances of winning again after completing a five-year term”.
Also read: 5 lessons BJP must learn from Maharashtra & Haryana election results
“Both the CMs had not even served as ministers in any government,” Modi told BJP workers who had gathered at the DDU Marg headquarters of the party.
The PM stressed on the fact that both victories were significant as the BJP was always a junior partner in Maharashtra with its ally Shiv Sena.
On Haryana he said: “Whenever we partnered with any party there, it had to be on their terms and conditions. It would be a major thing if we even touched double digits. And I am just talking about 2014. To reach where we are today from that is remarkable.”
In the 90-member Haryana house, the BJP has won 36 seats and is leading in four — still six short of the majority mark. The 2019 numbers are down from the party’s tally of 47.
In Maharashtra, the BJP has won 83 seats and is leading in 22. Unlike 2014, the BJP contested these assembly elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena, which won 52 seats and is leading in four. The alliance’s total seats won is 135, while it is leading in 26.
Before Modi, BJP chief and Union home minister Amit Shah addressed party workers Thursday evening. Modi’s leadership, said Shah, had led the BJP from strength to strength.
“I want to congratulate crores of party workers… under Modi 2.0, these are the first two elections the BJP has won,” he said.