Escaping an ignominious defeat by a whisker, the ruling BJP in Gujarat has now found a new excuse for the party’s tally coming down to 99 in the 182-member assembly.
In a tacit admission that the party did get support from those in the illegal liquor trade earlier, Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja has said that bootleggers did not vote for the BJP this time.
The minister told the assembly on Thursday that the BJP’s tally has been reduced to just 99 this time as the butchers, bootleggers and those opposed to ban on triple talaq didn’t vote for the party in the two-phase election in December last year.
Speaking on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to the assembly, Jadeja also gave details about the reasons behind these sections of people not voting for the BJP.
Responding to a dig by the Opposition Congress legislators about the dip in the BJP’s tally this time, the minister said that butchers didn’t vote for his party as they were angry due to introduction of tougher laws to curb cow slaughter and bootleggers didn’t vote for BJP as they have been affected by the stricter prohibition laws.
“Those who were angry with the BJP government at the Centre for introducing a bill to protect Muslim women against triple talaq also did not give us votes,” said Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home. He, however, did not reveal whether Muslim women have voted for the BJP as their gratitude for the anti-talaq law.
Taking a dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s several visits to temples across Gujarat during the election campaign, Jadeja said the deities did not help his party come to power in the state.
The minister claimed that the BJP returned to power due to votes of rural people, youths who have got jobs and women who gained from government policies.