Shah Links Local Victories to 2029 General Election Outlook
Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated on Tuesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) recent successes in local body elections across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tripura signal a forthcoming defeat for the Indian National Congress in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on October 13, 2026, Shah asserted that voters continue to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. He urged Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his associates to "prepare themselves once again for a crushing defeat in 2029," predicting that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would win with a "resounding majority" while Congress faces its fourth consecutive loss in general elections.
Specifics of the Gujarat Municipal Sweep
To substantiate his claims, Shah highlighted specific electoral data from Gujarat, noting that the BJP secured 90 of the 104 seats across three urban local bodies. In the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation alone, the party captured 38 of the 44 available seats.
Shah pointed out a 10 percent increase in the BJP’s vote share in Gandhinagar compared with the previous election. While Congress managed to win five seats in the same corporation and an Independent candidate won one, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contested all 32 seats but failed to secure any victory, resulting in the loss of its security deposits.
Expanding on the regional trend, Shah noted that the BJP captured 90 percent of municipal corporations, 66 percent of municipal councils, and 65 percent of municipalities in Rajasthan’s local body elections. He emphasized that these results reflect a broader voter sentiment rather than isolated incidents.
Congress’s Extended Electoral Drought
Shah directed criticism toward the Congress party’s prolonged absence from power, noting that it had not won an election in Gujarat since 1985. He stated that the party has suffered defeats over the past 41 years in the state, arguing that this long-term trend underscores its inability to connect with voters.
He further cited Congress’s failure to win a single seat across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry in recent bypolls. Shah specifically pointed to BJP victories in West Bengal’s Naogaon and Nandigram constituencies, as well as its win in Rejinagar, where it defeated the Trinamool Congress by more than 75,000 votes.
Regarding Puducherry, Shah highlighted that NDA ally All India NR Congress won by 8,482 votes. He noted that while Congress secured 22 percent of the vote in that region, it failed to translate that support into a seat, reinforcing his argument about the party’s declining influence.
Attacks on Gandhi and Electoral Roll Disputes
Shah accused Gandhi of pursuing "negative politics" and claimed that Congress could not regain public confidence through fabricated media events and falsehoods regarding protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He alleged that Gandhi wanted infiltrators to be registered as voters and questioned the party’s criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the timing of these controversies, Shah asked, "Is this the result of the SIR? The SIR started only after 2024," arguing that Congress’s electoral setbacks began before the exercise. He stated, "You need to engage in introspection. You cannot win the trust of the country’s people through fabricated media events and echoes of lies."
Concluding his remarks, Shah reiterated that "The people of this country are with Narendra Modi ji, with the BJP, with the NDA. You cannot deny this truth," framing the local election results as a mandate for the ruling coalition ahead of the next general polls.