New Delhi:
An excited BJP is crediting Narendra Modi for the party's student's wing winning three of the four seats in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won the seats for the president, vice president and joint secretary, while the Congress's student wing National Students' Union of India (NSUI) bagged just the secretary's seat. Just last year, the NSUI had swept the students union polls, by winning all three top posts.
BJP President Rajnath Singh seemed confident when he said, "These results make it clear in upcoming Delhi elections, BJP will get clear majority."
But the Congress was quick to reject the claim of the Narendra Modi impact on DUSU polls. "Even before Mr Modi was announced as the BJP's PM candidate, the polling was completed. This has nothing to do with Narendra Modi," said Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed.
Mr Modi was declared the BJP's prime ministerial candidate on Friday. It is clear the BJP wants to capitalise on the Gujarat chief minister's popularity and is hoping the early announcement will help it do just that.
But as Mr Modi prepares to criss-cross across the nation as five states go to polls, there's a lot at stake for him personally. These polls will be the first big test of his leadership outside Gujarat and he knows many will be watching his every step.