By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : As Gujarat awaits election results Sunday, Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems supremely confident of retaining power with a thumping majority.
With counting of votes set for Sunday, Modi has been presenting himself in a manner that conveys that he is sure of continuing for another five years in office.
Even during the build up to the elections, Modi spearheaded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign. The election was fought by the BJP around the personality of Modi and his functioning over the last five years.
Modi addressed as many as 12 public meetings extempore in various corners of the state on a given single day. He presented a picture of confidence wherever he went.
The same confidence has been visible ever since the final phase of polling ended Dec 16.
Confident that he cannot be defeated, Modi did not campaign personally in his own constituency of Maninagar where he was pitted against Congress heavyweight Dinsha Patel, a minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.
It was towards the end of the campaign that Modi addressed his electorate in his trademark fiery manner.
And it was on the polling day that Modi, after casting his vote, took to the roads in his constituency, cheered by his supporters.
Once the polling was through, Modi got back to work as if the elections were just a formality. The BJP leadership in the state held a three-hour meeting at his residence Tuesday to evaluate the voting percentage, pattern and fallout.
After the meet, the Hindutva poster boy, as he is known, went on to attend the National Development Council (NDC) meet in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
As a matter of routine, he again made headlines for his charge that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had unveiled a ‘minority bias’ in the 11th Five Year Plan.
Modi’s attending the meet was opposed by the Congress, which argued that he does not have the mandate to represent Gujarat as election results were awaited.
Even as exit polls give Modi and his party an advantage, BJP workers still feel that the number of seats coming their way will be far greater than what is being projected by the exit polls.
“There was a strong undercurrent in favour of Narendrabhai and his work across the state. In rural areas also people are happy with the progress that has been made under his leadership and have hence voted for him in large numbers,” says Shashiranjan Yadav, a key functionary in the BJP IT cell.
The Congress of course thinks differently. It feels that the BJP is sure to get a shock of its life.