INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Are the results of the assembly elections in the five states of Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram as expected
or as predicted Yes and no
The people have given decisive verdicts in the smaller states of Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram and all three results there are a
Everyone predicted that Chhattisgarh would be a close contest between the Congress and BJP
Some felt that it could even produce a hung assembly and Ajit Jogi felt forget being a king-maker, he would in fact be king
Today, he must be, along with his ally Mayawati, disappointed at the results because it has been a clean sweep for the Congress
Analysts will now mull over the reasons for the massive defeat of the BJP in Chhattisgarh
I am personally aware of the organisational strength of the BJP in the state, but clearly if the people change their mind, nothing and
absolutely nothing can prevent them from expressing their view, as election after election has always shown in the past
It was said that Chief Minister Raman Singh had generally been non-controversial and a committed worker of the BJP for long
He is also credited with doing a number of good things in the state but even his luck has run out after 15 years.The shock defeat for the
BJP was in Chhattisgarh, where Raman Singh was considered one of its most popular chief ministersThe results of Telangana are also
I think everyone underestimated the appeal of the TRS which has swept the state
The alliance between the Congress and the TDP has not cut much ice with the voters and they are a distant second
We should wait and see what impact it has on the national scene where KCR will now plead more strongly for a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance
at the national level to take on both the parties simultaneously in 2019.K Chandrashekar Rao struck gold in Telangana, winning 88 of the
state's 119 seatsThe people of Mizoram, which has a small assembly of 40 members, have also returned a decisive verdict in favor of the MNF
Here again, the Congress party, along with its allies, was supposed to pose a challenge to the MNF, but the Congress party and its allies
The MNF is a member of the North-East Democratic Alliance set up by the BJP and though its leader has issues with the BJP, he is not
enamoured of the Congress party either
In any case, the rulers of the smaller states in the Northeast have a tradition of aligning with whoever is in power in Delhi, so it will
not be a surprise at all if the BJP claims victory by proxy in Mizoram.The Congress was two short of the majority mark of 116 in the
230-seat Madhya Pradesh assembly, but closed the gap with help from MayawatiBetween the two bigger states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,
while the script has held as far as MP is concerned, it seems to have gone wrong in Rajasthan, where everyone predicted a sweep for the
powerful personality of the Prime Minister and his campaigning in Rajasthan in the final stretch which improved the BJP's performance
I will not be surprised if the BJP claims this to be a victory of sorts despite losing a massive number of seats which it held earlier in
In MP, the Congress party has fallen short of the majority mark by two seats
The BSP with two seats and the SP with one seat have already announced their support, so the formation of a Congress government is not in
One only hopes that the Governor will not indulge in any sort of (mis)adventure as the Governor in Karnataka did.MP's three-time Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took responsibility for the result and bowed out as a content manA few general comments:First, there is no
doubt that the verdict in all five states is against the BJP, especially in the three Hindi heartland states
Even more than Rajasthan, the other two states of MP and Chhattisgarh have always been regarded as strongholds of the BJP where it has an
efficient party machine created over the years by the likes of Kushabhau Thakre
Yet, the BJP has lost massively in Chhattisgarh and in Madhya Pradesh compared to the number of seats it had won in the 2013 elections
Firstly, they're not as scientific as in other countries they also come with dressed-up figures under the influence of the ruling party
the Prime Minister is personally responsible for this
The kind of issues that he has raised in these e and earlier elections, the kind of language he has used, hardly behooves the PM of a
Vajpayee would never have done that, whatever the provocation
The BJP cannot say that some other political party leaders used deplorable language against it to which the PM was duty-bound to reply
name-changing spree, providing historical places with names better suited to Hindutva sensibilitiesFive: the dream of the Prime Minister
that he would create a 'Congress-Mukt Bharat' has been dashed to the ground
It was a silly thing to say to begin with
I have been a vocal critic of the Congress party throughout and when Modi was enjoying the fruits of power in Gujarat, I, along with my
other colleagues, was fighting the Congress party in the trenches
But how can you wish away a major opposition party in a democracy, especially in a parliamentary democracy This is where Modi and Shah got
it absolutely wrong and the people have taught them a lesson through these elections.Note also that Rahul Gandhi has arrived on the national
People will call him Pappu at their own peril in future.The Congress scored its best election results in years on a day it marked a year
since Rahul Gandhi's takeoverWhatever the BJP's spokespersons might say, there is no doubt that the Modi Magic is over
He is not invincible any more as he appeared to be when I challenged him on his government's performance in September 2017
In the three Hindi heartland states, the total number of Lok Sabha seats is 65 out of which the BJP had won 62 in the last Lok Sabha
The BJP's spokespersons might argue that there is a world of difference between a Lok Sabha election and an assembly election, but the
results of these elections are not good news for the BJP
There is also no doubt that these results are as much a verdict on the central government as they are on the performance of the state
PradeshHubris never pays in Indian politics
The voter expects you to approach him humbly and seek both his vote as well as his forgiveness for what you have failed to deliver
He hates arrogance which the BJP acquired in plenty in the shortest possible time
I hope it learns a lesson from these election results because it must also survive to lend strength to our polity.Yashwant Sinha, former BJP
leader, was Minister of Finance (1998-2002) and Minister of External Affairs (2002-2004)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this
article are the personal opinions of the author
The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of TheIndianSubcontinent and TheIndianSubcontinent does not assume
any responsibility or liability for the same.
