Congress President Rahul Gandhi during the parliament on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri) Congress President Rahul Gandhi during the parliament on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri)

Describing Rahul Gandhi as “bazigar” in its frontpage headline in Saamana, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday showered praise on the Congress president, saying that even though the BJP won Gujarat, the discussion in the country was all about the big stride taken by the Gandhi scion. “The Gujarat model is trembling and one hopes it will not collapse in 2019,” he said.

In an Saamana editorial, Uddhav said that though the BJP cleared the Gujarat examination with passing marks, it was parading itself as if it had secured a distinction. Raising questions over celebrations by BJP after the Gujarat victory, Uddhav asked, “Is the BJP’s Gujarat victory so stellar to dance with gay abandon… though BJP won, the discussion in the country was centred around the big stride taken by Rahul Gandhi.” Uddhav said Rahul brought young warriors like Hardik Patel and others under one umbrella and almost managed to pull off a win. “He fought the Gujarat war by bringing all young warriors together and almost won…”

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi played the Gujarati self-respect card, Uddhav said voters stood by Modi in 99 seats following his appeal for Gujarati self-respect, “Apno Manas”, but on 77 seats Rahul and Hardik stood tall. Complimenting the BJP without mentioning Modi, Uddhav said, “I am extending my special compliments to the BJP for its success in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, but as a strong opposition, the success achieved by the Congress is significant.”

Uddhav said, “They were strongly asserting the BJP will not get even one seat less than 150, but BJP had to sweat it out even to cross the 100 mark.” “In the last days of the campaigning, this pathetic picture emerged which clearly reflected that sand under BJP’s feet was slipping,” he said. The Gujarat result is a pointer to what is going to happen in 2019, he added.

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