BJP sweeps Hindi heartland states 3-0, Telangana only solace for Cong

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday wrested Rajasthan from the Congress, seemed on track for a similar feat in Chattisgarh and marched spectacularly towards a massive two-thirds mandate in Madhya Pradesh, further brightening the saffron party's prospects in Lok Sabha elections a few months from now.
Having suffered resounding losses in the three Hindi heartland states, where it was the principal opponent of the BJP, the Congress got its sole success in Telangana which it snatched from the BRS.
As per the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, BJP had either won or led on 164 seats in Madhya Pradesh routing the key rival Congress Party.
In Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, it won or led on 55 and 115 seats respectively as of 7 pm.
Congress party's tally stood at 64 as against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)'s 39 seats in Telangana, the only state that went to the hustings in southern India. BJP remained a distant third in trends and results there.
Emboldened by the party's show in assembly elections, Modi said that the current trend will continue in coming times. In a post on X, he said that 'the results in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan indicate that the people of India are firmly with politics of good governance and development'.
Congress was clearly disappointed from the poll outcome. It has now called the meeting of the opposition bloc to make strategies for Lok Sabha elections due early next year.
"We will overcome temporary setbacks and prepare ourselves fully for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections along with the 'INDIA' parties," said Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in his post on X.
Several exit polls had predicted a win for Congress in Chhattisgarh and close fight in Rajasthan but the results have come otherwise. Some of the pollsters had projected a close fight between Congress and BJP in Madhya Pradesh but the actual result shows that the grand old party was nowhere in the race against its rival.
The Congress party's heavy dose of sops and welfare measures failed to turn the tide in its favour. Even the issue of the Caste census proved to be a damp squib.
Among all the four states, Madhya Pradesh has proved to be the biggest victory for BJP with the incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emerging as the undisputed leader of the state unit. In a big surprise for state-level leaders, the BJP top brass in the run-up to the assembly election decided to field many of its MPs and Ministers in the state. This was seen by political analysts as a move to clip the wings of Chouhan.
With poll results almost clear now, the focus has now shifted on who becomes Chief Ministers in states.