What A Victory BJP!

The results of the Assembly elections held in four states last month showed that the electorate has reposed faith in the BJP in three states, barring the southern state of Telangana, where the Congress has gained foothold. These elections are being considered as the curtain raiser for the 2024 general elections.

The BJP had a clear lead in both the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Till mid-morning, the Congress seemed to have a lead in both the southern states – Telangana and Chhattisgarh. However, the trend changed after mid-morning in Chhattisgarh. The scales suddenly tilted towards the BJP, with the party crossing the half-way mark, though the early leads indicated a lead for the Congress initially. In Telangana, the party continued to have a clear majority, defeating the ruling BRS.

In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP made a comeback.

In the 90-seat Assembly of Chhattisgarh, the BJP is leading in 50+ seats and poised to form the government. The key candidates contesting in the southern state include Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is running from his home turf Patan, former CM Raman Singh contesting from Rajnandgaon, deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo contesting from Ambikapur and BJP’s Vijay Baghel contesting against Bhupesh Baghel from Patan.

The voting in Chhattisgarh was held in two phases — November 7 and November 17, and saw a voter turnout of 78 per cent and 75.88 per cent respectively.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has been voted back to power giving a clear majority of over 163 seats of the total 230 seats. The Mukhya Mantri Ladhi Behna Yojana is believed to be the game changer, helping the BJP retain power in the state. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is set to retain his seat for a fourth time, negating the anti-incumbency factor. He attributed the success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign and claimed that they have properly implemented welfare schemes of the “double engine” government.

Telangana witnessed a Congress Tsunami with the party leading in 68 of the total 119-seat Assembly. The Congress has thwarted BRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s from making a hat-trick and reaped the benefit of according statehood to Telangana after nearly 9 years of the act. This is the first time that

Meanwhile, the BJP and MIM are leading in seven seats each.

Surprisingly, the Kamareddy seat which was expected to be a cliffhanger with both the BRS president KCR and TPCC chief Revanth Reddy locking horns over it witnessed BJP candidate Venkataramana Reddy emerging victorious.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao thanked the people for voting the BRS party to power for two consecutive terms. However, he said that he was disappointed with the poll results this time. Taking to X, he said that they would take the result in their stride and congratulated the Congress for winning people’s mandate.

Significantly, the voting pattern in urban Telangana was different from those of the rural folk. The urban voters preferred BRS while those in the rural hinterland voted for the Congress. TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy’s high-pitched and spirited campaign against ‘corrupt’ BRS government had been successful in setting aside the BRS and drawing the voters towards the Congress.

In Rajasthan, the BJP wrested power from the Congress. The BJP has crossed the halfway mark with 110 seats, while the Congress trails with 73 seats, according to the leads.

There are a total of 199 seats in the Rajasthan assembly, and the halfway mark is 100. The BJP secured a vote share of 38.77 per cent while the Congress registered 39.30 per cent.

According to information reaching here, both the parties have reached out to the winning independents and rebel candidates at different levels,