Barring an outlier's prediction and another who strayed upward from the 'zone', all exit polls forecast a comfortable majority for the BJP but short of a two-third majority.Likewise, with the exception of the two agencies which predicted a runaway victory for the BJP, others forecast moderate gains to the Congress with it gaining seats in the range of 5 to almost 20 percentage points.But given the high decibel campaign, especially towards the end and reversal of the popular impression that the BJP would at best somehow squeak through, it appears that out of the tactics the two parties deployed, the BJP was more successful in converging these towards in the endgame stage compared to the Congress.Undoubtedly, BJP once again proved itself to be more adept at 'closing' a campaign while the Congress will probably live with the tag of 'chokers' who ran out of new ideas once PM Narendra Modi got into the act from November 27.Only the most virulent Modi critic will deny his role in the projected BJP victory. Without a doubt, Modi remains Gujarat 's leader number one by a huge distance and his personalised canvassing resonated greatly with people.Moreover, emergence of Rahul Gandhi as a credible national challenger possibly solidified Modi's position in the state. Make no mistake, in this election, the issue of Gujarati asmita or pride would have played as big a role as in state polls since 2002 since when the notion that the BJP represents aspirations of Gujaratis and that others were opposed to the state's progress, gained ground. With Gandhi taking charge of the Congress in the middle of the polls, a vote for the Congress may have been considered having the potential to weaken the most popular Gujarati and may have made people reconsider their earlier decision of jettisoning BJP.Once considered a pocket-borough of BJP, the party began worrying from mid-September owing to emergence of anti-incumbency sentiment triggered by an assortment of factors ranging from social unrest to post GST rollout.At that stage, without getting into a contest with people over public perception of 'misses' in the three years plus period since Modi moved away from the state to become prime minister, the BJP purposefully emphasised gains and progress made during the 13 years of Modi as chief minister. The party worked overtime to play up the memory of achievements of 'Modi the CM' versus the assessment of 'shortcomings' of Modi the PM. Exit polls suggest this worked to BJP's advantage as the trust factor towards Modi, especially in his avatar as CM, remains as high as ever.Unlike voters in other parts of the country who may have to be promised of Achhe Din while seeking a vote, Gujaratis possibly need just a nudge to be reminded of 'good times'. Moreover, the party's social media campaign that Modi was "renovating the nation" by bold reforms like demonetisation and GST and that this was causing temporary hardships, would have resounded with people. Like last year when people backed demonetisation, the idea still remains a morally-correct notion and no one publicly contests it for fear of being seen as being in league with black-marketeers.Over the part two and half years there has been much talk about Patidars turning against BJP. Despite such perception and visible anger of the community, the BJP did not stop engaging with the community. This was evident when the party nominated more Patidar candidates than the Congress. Exit polls suggest that while Hardik Patel may have been a great draw in public rallies and on the social media, this backing did not possibly convert into votes for the Congress and instead were either not cast - as the lower turnout suggests - or eventually a significant number of Patels remains BJP loyalists.Visible anger against the BJP in rural areas has been one of the major talking points and this writer can vouchsafe for its presence in complete contrast to past.Yet, as exit poll data suggests, this anger has firstly, been confined mainly to rural pockets of north Gujarat and Saurashtra. Secondly, its intensity possibly waned when it mattered most. In hindsight, if actual results follows the pattern of exit polls, it would appear that this 'visible anger' was mainly articulated by Congress voters in previous elections.Their voice echoed loudly because unlike in the past when people chose to remain silent, this time they decided to articulate views because successive social agitations provided courage to people to publicly adopt anti-BJP postures.Exit poll data shows that this change is possibly reflected in a rise of 1-2 percentage points in the vote share of Congress. But BJP has been able to retain its vote share because increased bipolarity possibly reduced votes of other parties and independent candidates who notched upward of 11% votes in 2012.Exit polls also depict the BJP firmly holding on to its bastions in South Gujarat and recovering the terrain in central Gujarat. If this eventually turns out to be true, it would indicate expansion of BJP support in tribal areas, one section of which had remained loyal to the Congress in 2007 and 2012.