New Delhi, Dec 8: BJP on Sunday handed a 4-0 drubbing to Congress in the Assembly polls by scoring landslide victories in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, managing to retain power in Chhattisgarh and close to forming a Government in Delhi.
The election results also saw debutant Aam Aadmi Party putting up a stunning performance in Delhi where its chief Arvind Kejriwal emerged the giant killer defeating three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by a huge margin. While its performance helped in the rout of Congress, it halted BJP’s march towards a majority.
Propelled by the aggressive campaign of its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, BJP wrested power from Congress in Rajasthan by scoring a three-fourth majority and retained power in Madhya Pradesh where it increased its tally to reach two-third majority.
It was a hat-trick for BJP in Madhya Pradesh where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the party to a spectacular tally of 164 seats in the 230-member assembly, 21 seats more than last time.
The Congress suffered a huge defeat with its tally coming down to 59 from 71 seats. BSP got four seats.
In Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje spearheaded the saffron surge, ousting the Congress which registered its worst-ever performance. BJP got 162 seats, its highest ever tally, in the 200-member Assembly, leaving Congress with only 21. In the outgoing Assembly, BJP had 78 and Congress 96 seats.
National People’s Party got four, BSP three and National Unionist Zamindara Party two. Independents won seven.
Of the four States, national capital Delhi returned a hung verdict in which BJP emerged the single largest party with 31 seats in the 70-member House. Its pre-poll ally Akali Dal won one seat, giving it a boost in the stakes for power.
The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party, formed just a little over a year ago, put up an impressive show, bagging 28 seats.
The ruling Congress, which was seeking a fourth consecutive term, was decimated with its tally reduced from 43 in the outgoing house to eight. A number of heavyweights of Congress and BJP, including four of six ministers, were humbled at the hustings. Dikshit resigned immediately.
It was a thriller in Chhattisgarh which saw a day-long see-saw battle. Finally, BJP crossed the majority mark of 45 in the 90-member Assembly. It got 49 seats. Like Modi in Gujarat, Chief Minister Raman Singh has scored a hat-trick.
Unlike in the other three States, the Congress put up a stiff battle, helped as it was by a sympathy wave in Bastar region where the maoists had eliminated the top leadership in a dastardly attack earlier this year. The Congress got 39 seats. The BJP had won 50 seats last time and Congress 38.
A humbled Congress, which had pitted its vice-president Rahul Gandhi against the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the hectic election campaign, said it would “introspect” why it lost Rajasthan, was crushed in Delhi and why it couldn’t dislodge the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
“Our congratulations to those who have won in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” said a despondent Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan. “In Delhi, we accept the verdict and will examine the results. We will find out what has gone wrong.”
“Our work is cut out for us and we have to face realities,” said Congress Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was projected as a possible Chief Minister candidate for Madhya Pradesh, which the party lost badly.
The BJP said the verdict dominantly reflected “mass anger” against the Congress, which has ruled India since 2004 at the head of a multiparty United Progressive Alliance.
“This is an anti-Congress vote. There is an impact of Modi also,” said spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, referring to the party’s Prime Ministerial, candidate who campaigned in all four States with gusto.
BJP activists erupted into celebrations all across Madhya Pradesh, which the party has ruled since 2003, and Rajasthan, where the Congress suffered a disastrous defeat.
However, the Congress put up a spirited show in Chhattisgarh where it appeared at one stage to be edging past the Raman Singh-led BJP after being in the opposition for a decade.
“We always thought of AAP as competition and we were expecting it to get double digit seats but this is surprising,” Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel said.
The Congress claimed the verdict was no reflection on its national leadership.
BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi took a jibe at Congress, saying its total seats in all the four States is less than what his party has won in one State.
“The total number of seats Congress has won in all the four States today cannot even match the seats @BJP4India won in 1 state!” Modi said on Twitter.
Till the tweet, Congress had won only a total of 74 seats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi and was leading in 55.
Terming BJP’s performance in these elections as “spectacular”, he said, “I congratulate Rajnathji, party leaders & Karyakartas (workers) for their hardwork in the elections.
He also congratulated MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Chhhattisgarh CM Raman Singh.
Earlier, senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Gopinath Munde gave credit to Modi for BJP’s good performance in the Assembly elections.
Singh said BJP had benefited to a great degree from the popularity of Modi in these elections.
Debutant Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal today pulled off a major upset against three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, defeating her with a thumping margin of over 25,000 votes in New Delhi constituency.
The AAP leader, whom both Congress and BJP leaders had dismissed as a “non-actor”, defeated Dikshit by a margin of 25,864 votes.
Making a brief appearance before party volunteers at his Hunuman Road office for the first time after the result was declared, he attributed his victory to the people of New Delhi Constituency.
“This is not my victory, it is a victory of people of New Delhi constituency and victory of democracy,” he said, after defeating Dikshit.
The 45-year-old Kejriwal had filed his nomination on November 16 — the last date– after Dikshit filed hers just to ensure that he was in direct contest with Dikshit.
The volunteers, from 80-year-old Vijay Baba to six-year- old Ritul who had gathered outside his office, cheered and shouted slogans as soon as the announcement of his victory was made by AAP leader Kumar Vishwas.
They showered flower petals and smeared gulal on each other. (Agencies)
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