Sena mocks BJP's narrow win in Gujarat

Mumbai: Mocking the outcome of the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena on Monday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not achieve the victory it expected. "The BJP had to win in Gujarat... Its 22 years of rule in the state, the use of money power and deployment of 14 Chief Ministers for the campaign," Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut told media. "Its victory was a foregone conclusion. But the BJP has not won the victory it expected," he added. The BJP ally said "the atmosphere in the country" was changing and the Sena viewed the Congress as "a major opposition party". "We congratulate both the BJP and the Congress. The Gujarat outcome will set the entire nation thinking," Raut added. The BJP, which has ruled Gujarat since 1995, was expected to finish with 98 seats, just six more than the half-way needed to control the 182-member Assembly.