Big poll blow for Modi party
STATE ELECTION RESULTS UNDERSCORE RURAL DISMAY, COULD HELP UNITE OPPOSITION
India’s ruling party lost two key states and was set for a close finish in the third in a poll result that handed Prime Minister Narendra Modi his biggest defeat since he took office in 2014.
The results in the heartland, rural states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, only months ahead of a general election, could force the federal government run by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to lift spending in the countryside, where more than two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion people live.
Political analysts say the BJP’s defeat underscores rural dismay with the government and could help unite the opposition led by the Congress party, despite Modi’s high personal popularity, in the face of criticism he did not deliver jobs for young people and better conditions for farmers.
In the latest round of state legislative assembly elections, billed as the semi-final before next year’s national polls, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi dealt a body blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Hindi heartland states as the party swept Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress was locked in a tough fight with BJP.
In the two other states, regional parties were set to form the government. In Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao struck gold, leading in 87 of the state’s 119 seats. In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front was leading in 26 seats and looked set to win with a comfortable majority. Congress will lose the only state in the northeast it rules.
Modi conceded defeat last evening. “We accept the people’s mandate with humility...,’’ he said on Twitter.
We are going to provide the states with a vision and a government they can be proud of. There is a feeling among people that the promises made by the prime minister ... have not been fulfilled.”
Rahul Gandhi | Congress president
Today is a decisive day and Rahul Gandhi became Congress chief on the same day last year. And what can be a better gift than the party forming its governments in three BJP-ruled states.”
Sachin Pilot | Congress leader
No election depends on an individual. An election depends on several factors. The 2019 poll will be an election around the central government and the leadership of PM Modi.”
Arun Jaitley | Finance minister
The latest electoral results have dealt a body blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just months before the national polls with the party taking a beating in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while a seesaw battle for power continued in Madhya Pradesh. With Telangana and Mizoram going to regional parties, it was clear that voters had rejected the saffron party in what is seen as an indication of things to come in 2019.
The Congress managed to garner a near-unassailable lead in Chhattisgarh by late evening, and it seemed set to form the next government in Rajasthan. In MP, the election results showed the two parties still locked in a tantalising see-saw battle.
For the BJP, the results in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were the final test of its policies before it sought another term at the national level.
“There was an anger in the public against BJP. According to most of those who conducted opinion polls in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, people complained that BJP had not done much in the last five years. People were moving towards an alternative. With these results, it is time for BJP to self-introspect,” political analyst Vijay Shankar Chaturvedi told Gulf News.
Modi popularity dwindling
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is on the decline. He fought the 2014 general elections on the development plank, but a number of administrative policies relating to demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax [GST] prevented him from following through on his tall promises. Besides, the Opposition’s offensive over the controversial Rafale deal put BJP on the defensive,” political commentator Rajesh Shukla said.
Yesterday’s victory is expected to help Congress establish itself in a key role within the proposed grand alliance to take on BJP next year. Since his debut in politics in 2004, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was not taken seriously. But he led from the front in these elections. Gandhi successfully snatched Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan from BJP which had seemed impossible till a year ago. The victory in these states came exactly a year after Gandhi took charge of the party.