Sir — This refers to the article, “If Gujarat was a battle, the war has just begun” (December 25) by Kushan Mitra. The invincible win of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat points towards a changing notion of prolonged incumbency. The normal rules of anti-incumbency don’t seem to apply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the faith in his intent and integrity remains intact.
However, the party definitely needs course-correction — the Congress’ tally has gone up, while the BJP’s numbers have fallen drastically. The election turned out to be a spirited fight by the Congress as they reverberated issue-based campaign which favored the party in rural areas and the multi-caste alliance resonated with growing resentment. This election signals that the road to the 2019 lok Sabha election will not be an easy cakewalk for the BJP and that the resurgence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi can act as a catalyst for the voters in upcoming elections. The Modi juggernaut has entered the war zone, though the Gujarat battle had several winners.