New Delhi:2023/12/10: The Hindu nationalist party wrests control of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan from the Congress and wins record fifth term in Madhya Pradesh.
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party has won three out of four key state elections, according to the election commission’s website.
The crucial polls pitted India’s opposition against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the vital national vote, scheduled in less than six months.
Ballot counting on Sunday showed the BJP wrested control of the heartland states of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan from the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party. Of 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the BJP bagged 54 while the Congress won 35. In Rajasthan, the BJP got 115 of 199 seats.
The right-wing party was also likely to be re-elected in Madhya Pradesh for a record fifth term by winning 163 of 230 seats.
The Congress comfortably won Telangana state, which was ruled by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi party, formerly known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. Of 119 seats in the southern state, the Congress won 64, while the BRS got 39. The BJP won an impressive eight seats in the state.
Vote counting in a fifth state, Mizoram, is set for Monday where BJP’s regional ally, the Mizo National Front, is in power.
Elections in the five states were held last month and more than 160 million people, or a sixth of India’s electorate, were eligible to vote. Polling in India is generally done in phases owing to the large population.
‘Historic and unprecedented’
The election results indicate the voter mood ahead of the national elections in May in which Modi is eyeing a third consecutive term.
At the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday evening, party members and supporters lined up on the two sides and Modi walked between them, waving. The activists showered him with flower petals, chanting “Long live Mother India” and other slogans.
The storm of Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept away all the parties. The path is clear for BJP to form government in 3 out of 4 states. These include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Congress has got success in Telangana. Even the Aam Aadmi Party could not open its account in these elections.
The picture of assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana is clear. BJP has got a clear mandate in three states. At the same time, Congress has uprooted BRS in Telangana. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has failed to leave any kind of mark in these elections.
AAP had fought the elections with full strength in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Many party leaders including AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann had also held rallies. However, these did not make any difference.
In MP, AAP had fielded its candidates on more than 70 seats. Its candidates contested elections on 88 seats in Rajasthan and 57 seats in Chhattisgarh. You had also made many promises in your manifesto. These included providing free education along with free electricity and water on the lines of Delhi-Punjab. It is another matter that in all the three states the people expressed confidence in BJP.
After Delhi and Punjab, Kejriwal is trying to increase his presence in three states of the Hindi belt. AAP is part of the opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A. She knows that her performance will enhance her status in the opposition alliance.
After achieving success in three more states, BJP will be in power in 12 states on its own. At the same time, the second largest national party Congress will be reduced to three states after losing in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with its government in Delhi and Punjab, is at third position among national parties. The party had fielded more than 200 candidates in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It is another matter that he did not win even a single seat. AAP did not field candidates in Telangana.
