The lotus has bloomed again. The Amdavadis have given their verdict and, though not very determinedly, brought back the BJP to decide their basic needs. The dissident-ridden saffron Party returned to take charge of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) with a renewed vigour streaked with surprise, falling a we short of the magnanimous verdict of 1995 when it had won 109 Of the 129 seats. The BJP clinched 96 seats while the Congress, which had won 65 seats in 2000, saw its popularity down by half at 32 seats and some of its citadels conquered. The remaining seat went to an Independent. By default (or design), the BJP's first taste of power at AMC was in 1987, after the communal riots of 1985, then in 1995, three years after the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, and now, three years after the Godhra carnage. Not surprising then that when Modi rushed to the BJP head quarters to celebrate, he likened the situation to 1987. The media-savvy Modi, speaking in chaste Hindi for the benefit of the electronic media, said on Saturday, "The people of Ahmedabad have once again reposed their faith in the BJP as they did in 1987 and we must discharge our duties in an efficient and responsible manner for which they have chosen us and rejected the Congress”. Congress leaders scurried for cover and surfaced later to blame the debacle on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP had nibbled into 16 Congress seats, some being Muslim-dominated bastions like Danilimda, while BJP had the Jan Sangh and Shiv Sena eating into its pie. Also, some big names like standing committee chairman Kishansinh Tomar lost while mayor Aneesa Mirza returned with a good majority. The BJP also saw some pleasant surprises in Bapunagar, Rajpur and Naroda road which were Congress bastions. By the end of this month, Ahmedabad will have a new mayor, who might be Dharmendra Shah (Kankaria), Asit Vora (Manina gar) or Amit Shah (Vasna).