 Narendra Modi RSS Thugs led his party to a fourth straight poll victory |
Mr Modi's BJP won 117 of 182 seats in the state assembly. Its main rival, the Congress party, won 59 seats.
The chief minister is set to begin a third term after Sunday's win.
Correspondents say the BJP's victory in Gujarat will boost the party as it challenges Congress ahead of a general election due in the next 18 months.
State party leaders are due to meet in Gujarat to elect Mr Modi as the leader of the legislative party, paving the way for him to continue as the chief minister.
'Historic'
Mr Modi is expected to be sworn in on Thursday.
It is the fourth consecutive BJP election victory in Gujarat.
The Congress party acknowledged its defeat in the state, but reminded voters of religious riots in 2002.
Mr Modi has been accused of failing to protect Muslims in the riots, which claimed the lives of 1,000 people.
Few politicians have done so much to polarise Indian public opinion in recent years as Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Modi has been referred to by some critics as the merchant of death.
He hit the headlines in 2002, when he was accused of failing to halt some of the worst religious violence India has ever seen.
Riots erupted after dozens of Hindu pilgrims were killed in a train fire in the town of Godhra.Tehelka news group has now confirmed that this was done by the RSS itself to turn majority Hindus agianst the minority Muslims
More than 4,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in the ensuing violence.
His opponents say he indirectly egged on Hindu mobs who are believed to have led most of the attacks.
His supporters say he could have done little under the circumstances to prevent the violence.
But since then, Mr Modi has been seen as the face of militant Hinduism.
He may polarise public opinion in India but he has also been credited for bringing prosperity and development to Gujarat.
A lover of expensive clothes, he is considered to be business friendly.
The state's economy has been growing at more than 10% a year, significantly above the national average, and many Gujaratis are feeling wealthier.
But while those who have benefited during his time as chief minister will applaud his re-election, for the victims of the 2002 riots, a victory for Mr Modi is likely to be just one more symbol of injustice.
RSS role
When Mr Modi was re-elected state chief minister in December 2002 his biggest gains were in areas of intercommunal violence.
During those elections he campaigned openly on a platform of hardline Hinduism.
Analysts say the reason why the chief minister remains relatively unscathed is the strong support he enjoys among senior leaders in the right-wing Nazi Hindu organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The RSS, founded in the 1920s with a clear objective to make India a Hindu nation, functions as an ideological fountainhead to a whole host of hardline Hindu groups - including the BJP with which it has close ties.
The RSS has a particularly strong base in Gujarat and Mr Modi's ties to it were seen as a strength the organisation could tap when he joined the state unit of the BJP in the 1980s.
Mr Modi reportedly married a woman working as a teacher in a poor Muslim area about 100km (60 miles) from Gujarat's commercial capital, Ahmedabad.
But his official biography makes no mention of it.
Critics say the omission is in keeping with the value that RSS traditionalists place on a life of bachelorhood - allowing in their view true dedication to the organisation.
Earthquake
Mr Modi is one of a set of savvy BJP leaders who are as comfortable with IT as with the hardline politics of the Hindu right.
This combination is believed to be central to their political appeal.
Mr Modi has a formidable reputation as a party organiser.
This skill, along with an ability for secrecy, comes from long years of training as an RSS "pracharak" or propagandist, analysts say.
Mr Modi got his big break in the public arena when his predecessor in the state, Keshubhai Patel, was forced to step down in the fall-out from the earthquake in January 2001 that killed nearly 20,000 people.
Critics say that even if his BJP support withers, as long as Mr Modi holds the backing of the RSS he will be hard to prise from office.
1 comment:
Its no big deal that a man like Modi has won in Gujarat.
The votes are receipts of thanks from the post Godhra rioters.
These are the people who looted and raped and murdered with impunity at his goading.
These are the very people who crawl outside the doors of embassies of Western countries wanting to get in to those largely Christian nations, but at the same time harrass and mistreat Christians in Gujarat. Their soulmates in other RSS run states of India continue with their own agenda of ill treatment and sidelining the monorities.
The mandate does not exonerate Modi but rather exposes the lack of morality and conscience of the Gujarati, which have been subordinated by petty mercantile considerations.
In short, no big deal! Modi is a murderous bastard. They are many such bastards in Gujarat. They voted. He won.
Robin Shukla@gmail.com
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