Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Assembly elections results had showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was now the “most dominant political figure”. “He has a pan-India appeal,” Chidambaram said according to PTI.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh will give the party a boost in the Rajya Sabha also. “It will make it possible for the NDA government to start radical reforms during its remaining term to accelerate economic growth,” Chidambaram said. The government will now have enough majority in both the houses enabling it to virtually pass any Bill it wants to, the Congress leader said while addressing a gathering at Indian Merchants Chamber in Mumbai.
Caste equations have not been wiped out yet, he said, adding, “What happened in UP was that one leader seemed to have complete sway over the electorate [and] seemingly swept away all the divisions.”
The current political scenario can also accelerate the gross domestic product growth to 8%, he said. While political analysts considered the election results a “referendum” as it was the first test since demonetisation, the former finance minister said he didn’t agree with it.
The BJP has won 312 seats in Uttar Pradesh out of 403, while the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance won only 54 seats. In Uttarakhand, the BJP secured 56 seats and the Congress got only 11.
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