NEW DELHI: The BJP broke a decades-old jinx to retain power in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, even as Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party pulled off a stunning victory in Punjab to become the only regional party to rule in two states. And the Congress faced severe drubbing in all the five states that went to polls. The BJP is also set to form governments in Manipur with a simple majority, and in Goa where it stopped short of getting a full majority.
The BJP’s exuberance is not misplaced as it has proved wrong all the political pundits who had predicted the party’s rout in the Jat-dominated western Uttar Pradesh which was the epicentre of farmers’ agitation. As results started pouring in, it became evident that western UP had voted resoundingly in favour of the BJP. The party’s strike rate in western UP was better than the main rival — the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal combine.
The BJP performed equally well in all other regions of the state. The social coalition cobbled together by the party and the welfare schemes, including free ration to the poor, paid rich dividends. The party swept most of the constituencies having a large Dalit population indicating a huge shift of Dalits towards the BJP.
This shift of the Dalit vote dealt a deadly blow to Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party whose tally fell to a single digit for the first time since it started contesting elections in UP.
Mayawati has suffered huge setbacks in the last five elections in UP and her party’s vote share has continued to shrink over the last 10 years. She has, however, retained the support of a large chunk of Jatavs, the caste she belongs to, and a few other numerically smaller castes.
This seems to be the only vote left with her. But whether she would be able to bounce back from here is a million-dollar question.
The other big story of this election is the stunning victory pulled off by AAP which is poised to win over 90 out of 117 assembly seats. Buoyed by the success, Kejriwal laid bare his national ambition by exhorting people across the country to join AAP “to change the system”.
Congress biggest loser, questions over Gandhi
Kejriwal said it was time the common man picked up the reins of power to decide his own future and the future of the country.
“Who is the person who has defeated Charanjeet Singh Channi? Labh Singh Ugoke runs a regular mobile phone repair shop. Who is the person who has defeated both Bikram Singh Majithia and Navjot Singh Sidhu? She is an ordinary AAP volunteer.”
The AAP landslide was so strong in Punjab that it swept away all the top leaders belonging to Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal, the two parties that have been ruling the state alternatively for decades.
Among the giants who were made to bite dust were Charanjeet Singh Channi, Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. For the first time in decades, there will not be a single Badal in the Punjab assembly. Congress became the biggest loser in these elections.
The party not only lost power in Punjab, but failed to perform well in Uttarakhand where it was widely believed to have been on a comeback trail. But the biggest humiliation for the party came in Uttar Pradesh where Priyanka Gandhi was leading the campaign.
The party saw a dramatic fall in its vote share and managed to win just two out of 403 seats. This has been the Congress’ worst performance in India’s largest state in decades.
The main opposition to the BJP in UP, the Samajwadi Party, had put together a rainbow alliance of castes to take on the BJP.
The SP’s attempt to shed the image of being a Yadav party succeeded to an extent but was not good enough to beat the BJP. The SP alliance stopped well short of the majority mark in spite of increasing its tally by almost 80 seats compared to its score in the last election.
In the last three elections, the SP has allied with three parties.
It fought the 2017 assembly election in alliance with the Congress, the 2019 election with BSP and the latest one with RLD. Nothing seems to be working for the young Akhilesh Yadav, who has come out of the shadow of his father and uncles but has so far failed to register a win of his own.
Modi imprint, says world media
New Delhi: The international media commented that the BJP’s record electoral gains in UP and elsewhere once again reinforce the dominance of PM Modi in Indian politics for the foreseeable future.
A report by the Washington Post said, “The results make Modi’s BJP the favourite to win the next national election in 2024.” Daily Telegraph said the election is expected to be a barometer for the national political mood.
