In what could be the biggest electoral blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014, it lost three major states—Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh—to the Congress in the recently held assembly polls, touted to be a semi-final of the general elections in 2019. The results in these Hindi heartland states, which were announced on Tuesday, could help further unite the opposition parties against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls and brighten the political prospects of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
In Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti led by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao registered a landslide victory, while the Congress-Telugu Deam Party tie-up came a cropper. Meanwhile, the Congress party lost power in its lone northeast state of Mizoram after the Mizo National Front swept the polls bagging 26 out of 40 seats.
“We accept the people’s mandate with humility,” PM Modi tweeted on Tuesday night. “I thank the people of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for giving us the opportunity to serve these states. The BJP governments in these states worked tirelessly for the welfare of the people,” he said.
In another tweet, Modi who had crisscrossed these states holding vigorous campaign before the elections, said: “Victory and defeat are an integral part of life.”
Rahul Gandhi, who took on Modi and his government throughout the campaign over a slew of issues ranging from farmers' crisis to the Rafael deal scam, said the Congress is going to provide these states, where the party has stormed back to power, "a government that they can be proud of".
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"This is a victory of Congress workers, small traders and farmers. This is a big responsibility for Congress party and we will work on this," said Rahul Gandhi, addressing the media in New Delhi.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley admitted that the results were certainly not as expected, but trashed claims that it would reflect in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "The 2019 elections will be around the performance of the Central government and the leadership of PM Modi," he said.
BJP's most humiliating defeat came in Chhattisgarh where Chief Minister Raman Singh's uninterrupted 15-year was ended with the Congress exhibiting a stunning comeback. Singh submitted his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel and said he accepts responsibility for BJP's poor show.
In Rajasthan, the Congress displayed a clear show of strength but failed to cross the magic number. The party won 99 seats, one short of majority, while the BJP was reduced to 73. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje handed over her resignation to Governor Kalyan Singh in Jaipur. The Congress will hold its legislature party meeting in Jaipur on Wednesday to decide on future course of action.
In Madhya Pradesh, both Congress and the BJP are set for a photo finish with the former holding a shaky lead as per the latest reports from the state. Out of the total 230 seats, Congress was leading in 113 seats while the BJP in 110.
The much touted alliance of Congress and the BJP in Telangana failed to bear fruit as the ruling TRS recorded a landslide victory to come to power for the second consecutive term. The TDP, which had bagged 34 seats in the 2013 elections, was reduced to mere two seats.
The election results in Mizoram have left the entire northeast 'Congress-free' with the party faced a reverse in the border state. The MNF bagged 26 out of 40 seats reducing the ruling party to mere five. The BJP managed to win its lone seat in the state.