New Delhi: Congratulating the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), its allies at the Centre
on December 15 refuted suggestions of any "polarisation" of votes in Gujarat but said
it was a verdict against the Congress.
"The people of Gujarat were aggrieved with the kind of image painted outside the
state and hence reacted in this way," senior Samata Party leader and Railway Minister
Nitish Kumar said.
Claiming that there was no polarisation of votes between Hindus and Muslims, he said,
"people are secular and they do not like any fundamentalists".
In a guarded reaction on the outcome of the polls, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N
Chandrababu Naidu said the people's verdict was final in a Parliamentary form of
democracy.
Naidu, whose TDP (Telugu Desam Party) is a key ally of the BJP-led NDA (National
Democratic Alliance) government at the Centre, expressed happiness over the peaceful
conduct of the elections and expressed hope that with elections over all sections
would pay greater attention to peace, harmony and overall development of the
state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)
leader Jayalalithaa congratulated Narendra Modi and expressed happiness over Modi's
"splendid" victory "despite the difficulties and obstacles created by the extremely
hostile media and a hostile Election Commission of India".
"The will of the people of Gujarat had prevailed," she told Modi over phone.
Describing it as a "befitting reply by rejecting Congress" and attributing BJP's
victory to the developmental policies pursued by the state government, Shiromani
Akali Dal general secretary Kanwaljit Singh said the victory had nothing to with
Godhra.
PTI
