NEW DELHI : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost power in three key states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, dealing Prime Minister Narendra Modi his biggest defeat since he took office in 2014 and boosting the opposition ahead of national polls next year.
Tuesday’s counting of votes for the three States of the so-called “Hindi heartland” saw the Congress winning big in Chhattisgarh, forming the government in Rajasthan and staking claim to form the government in Madhya Pradesh as it inches ahead of the BJP (counting was still on at the time of writing), and a reversal of fortunes for the BJP that will have ramifications for national politics.
The three States account for 65 seats in the Lok Sabha and went overwhelmingly with the BJP in the 2014 election.
Both Dr. Raman Singh and Vasundhara Raje, Chief Ministers of the BJP-led governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, tendered their resignations to the Governors.
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress won a clear majority, winning 68 seats in the 90-member House, while in Rajasthan, it touched the half-way mark together with its allies. That leaves the field clear for the formation of Congress-led governments in both States.
In the Southern state of Telangana, TRS headed to regain power leading in 87 seats in 119 member Assembly.
In the last Congress bastion of Mizoram in North Eastern region, the grand old party also seemed to be making way for the regional outfit MNF, which ruled the state between 1998 and 2008.
In Madhya Pradesh, however, a see-saw battle raged on the counting tables for most of the day with the results expected either late at night or in the early hours of Wednesday.
The results in the heartland rural states could force the government run by Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP to raise spending in the countryside, where more than two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion people live.
Political analysts said the BJP’s defeat would underscore rural dismay with the government and could help unite the opposition led by the Congress party. Modi is personally popular but has been criticised for failing to deliver jobs for young people and better conditions for farmers.
Reacting late on Tuesday to the results, Modi wrote on Twitter: “Victory and defeat are an integral part of life. Today’s results will further our resolve to serve people and work even harder for the development of India.”
The results came as a shot in the arm for Rahul Gandhi, president of the left-of-centre Congress, who is trying to forge a broad alliance with regional groups and present Modi with his most serious challenge yet in a general election that must be held by May.
