2022 proves Congress's worst performance in Gujarat in 40 years

The BJP's bastion of Gujarat remained so on Thursday as the results of the poll were announced and the party won the state with a historic mandate.

On the other hand, the Congress, which had pinned its hopes on an anti-incumbency wave and a slew of allegations against the BJP over the Morbi bridge collapse and the remission to the Bilkis Bano convicts, was instead left fuming as the party saw its worst-ever performance in nearly 40 years.

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The grand old party had last formed a government in the state in 1985 with a massive 149-seat mandate. Since then, the party has been on a downward spiral in the state, especially after 1995 as the BJP has held a unassailable stranglehold on the western state since then.

And while the party did show some signs of recovery, especially after the 2007 elections, rising to as much as 77 seats in 2017 and presenting a legitimate threat to the BJP, the 2022 elections proved to be the party's worst performance ever, as it won a paltry 17 seats, amount to less than 10 per cent of the 179 seats it contested.