Must Read From Our Polls Coverage
📌 With a fight on its hands in Rajasthan and MP, Cong hopes Chhattisgarh will be plain sailing: Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Of the four states where votes will be counted on Sunday, the Congress, according to the exit polls, has an advantage in only these two states even as Rajasthan is expected to be a close contest and Madhya Pradesh is predicted to go the BJP’s way. In Chhattisgarh, the pollsters have predicted Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s return to a second straight term in power but with fewer seats.
📌 Notes from the Madhya Pradesh ground: This round of assembly elections is nearly done, with voting over for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, and Rajasthan and Telangana left to go. There will be winners and losers, of course, but if you only paid attention to the white heat ratcheted up by contestants, you could miss out on what the voters are saying. Given that voters speak only once in five years, it is important, at this time, to go beyond the parties’ slogans and certitudes, keep an open mind and listen well.
📌 Owaisi in his labyrinth — Canvassing in Old Hyderabad streets to live TV performance: An articulate face on national TV, Asasuddin Owaisi, 54, seems to be playing truant at the height of a crucial campaign in his home base, Hyderabad. Not just parachuting journalists, even local veterans can’t trace him. He announces a roadshow or a door-to-door canvassing in one segment of the city and turns up at another. To catch up with these sudden diversions is far from easy in this old capital city that every contesting party promises to develop into the next Bengaluru.
📌 As PM Modi turns up the heat on KCR, the long and short of BJP’s Telangana strategy: Three days before Telangana votes in the Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and reiterated that it was the party’s responsibility “to bring Telangana out of the clutches of the BRS”. Modi also reiterated that the BJP had “turned down” the BRS’s offer to join hands. The prime minister’s consistent attack on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, and his party illustrates the BJP’s earnest effort to shrug off the Congress’s allegation that the BJP and the BRS have joined hands in the election.
📌 W for welfare, R for religion, O for OBCs — Parties have found a common poll language: As the poll fever for the five Assembly elections winds down – even though both Rajasthan and Telengana have become unexpectedly exciting, with the Congress putting up a fight – it’s time to capture some broad trends. What is striking are the areas where a consensus is now developing across parties, and one of them is the need to provide social welfarism – call it freebies, doles, handouts, what you will – as part of a safety net. The Congress and BJP are vying with each other to promise – and mount – new welfare schemes.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy will be the next Chief Minister of the southern state. "Congress President has decided to go with Revanth Reddy as the new CLP of Telangana Legislative Party," said Congress General-Secretary KC Venugopal. The swearing-in ceremony for the post is expected to be held on December 7.
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As some opposition leaders have raised questions on EVMs after Assembly poll results were announced in five states, BJP leaders mocked them on Tuesday, saying they are looking for excuses to hide their own shortcomings. As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in three Hindi heartland states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- in the recent round of Assembly polls, several opposition leaders raised questions over electronic voting machines, even as some said they had faith in the EVMs.
Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh slammed the opposition and said they blame EVMs whenever they fail to win elections. "There is nothing new. The opposition, whoever it may be, when they win, they are fine with the EVMs, but when they lose, they blame it on the EVMs," he said. (PTI)
Top Congress leadership on Tuesday met at the residence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and discussed the issue of government formation in Telangana. According to sources, Revanth Reddy's name for the post of chief minister in Telangana was cleared during the meeting. Reddy is the state Congress chief and is credited with the party's win in the recently concluded assembly polls. Sources said Rahul Gandhi met the Congress president at his residence, where Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar was also present along with Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakre, and discussed the formalities of government formation in Telangana. (PTI)
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President Revath Reddy's supporters held a protest outside Hyderabad's Ellaa Hotel, demanding his appointment as the new Chief Minister of the state, news agency PTI reported.
After the BJP's landslide victory in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said he has never been a contender for the CM's post earlier or even now. “I have neither been a contender for the chief minister (post) earlier nor am I today. As a party worker, I have always carried out whatever work assigned by the BJP with dedication, to the best of my ability, genuineness and honesty,” Chouhan said in a video statement shared on his official X account.
Thanking the voters, Chouhan said people gave unprecedented support to the BJP. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP bagged 163 of the 230 assembly seats, while the Congress got 66 seats and the Bharat Adivasi Party secured one seat. (PTI)
The BJP's victory in the assembly polls in three states is not the defeat of the INDIA bloc as the opposition parties did not contest the polls together, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday. "INDI alliance didn't fail, the Congress was unsuccessful to some extent in this election and it knows the reasons better," Abdullah told reporters after paying tributes to his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his 118th birth anniversary.
"These elections were not contested as an alliance. They were fought separately by the parties. There were candidates from the Congress, SP, AAP, and others. So, I don't consider it as a defeat of the INDI alliance because we didn't contest as an alliance," Abdullah said. (PTI)
The Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday passed a resolution authorising the party high command to pick the leader of opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, a leader said. The meeting of the Legislature Party, held at the Congress headquarters, was attended by senior leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mukul Wasnik and Madhusudan Mistry, who among others were appointed as special observers for the Rajasthan polls by the central leadership of the Congress.
Outgoing chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, senior leader Sachin Pilot along with the newly elected MLAs also attended the meeting. Congress lost the election securing 69 of 199 seats that went to polls while the BJP got a mandate of 115 seats to form the government.
The results were declared on Sunday following which Gehlot submitted his resignation as chief minister to Governor Kalraj Mishra. (PTI)
The Congress has deferred the meeting of its INDIA bloc allies called by party president Mallikarjun Kharge on December 6 after several leaders said they plan to skip it.
A meeting of the INDIA allies will be re-scheduled to the third week of December at a date convenient to all, the Congress party said. Read more
After Zoramthanga People’s Movement (ZPM)’s victory in Mizoram, the new government is set to be sworn in on December 8. Former IPS officer Lalduhoma is set to become the new Chief Minister of Mizoram. The 73-year-old who won his election from the constituency of Sercchip by 2,982 votes will be the state’s first new CM in three decades.
Polling in Karanpur Assembly seat of Rajasthan will now take place on January 5, 2024, the Election Commission has said. The counting of votes will take place on January 8.
Nomination submission will start from December 12 and the last date of filing nomination is December 19. Scrutiny will be held on December 20 and the names can be withdrawn by December 22, news agency PTI said.
Voting was adjourned in Karanpur after the death of Congress candidate Guremet Singh Koonar, who was also sitting MLA.
Amid the bipolar battle between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, tribal parties may have won only five seats, but their influence appears writ large in at least 24 seats, including the constituency of Niwas where Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste lost to the Congress.
The parties stood second in four of the 24 constituencies. In the rest, they polled more votes than the victory margin of either the Congress or the BJP. The BJP took home 12 of these seats and the Congress won eight.
The parties — the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP), and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) — in effect had an impact on almost one-third of all the ST-reserved constituencies in the three Hindi heartland states (there are a total of 101 such seats). The BAP was the star performer winning five constituencies and standing second in four. Read Deeptiman Tiwary's report
After the Congress’s heavy loss in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, the party is staring at another problem — a challenge to its preeminence in the INDIA bloc from the alliance’s constituents.
Both Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday sent strong messages to the Congress, with Banerjee expressing her inability to attend a meeting of the alliance’s leaders called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on December 6.
At an event in Varanasi, Akhilesh, without referring to the Congress, said, “Ab parinaam aa gaya hai toh ahankar bhi khatam ho gaya. Aane wale samay mein phir rasta niklega (Now that the results are out, the ego has also ended. In the coming days, a new way forward will be found).” Read more
A vast majority of the newly-elected Congress MLAs in Telangana on Monday told the AICC observers that they prefer A Revanth Reddy, the state Congress president, for the chief minister’s post, sources told The Indian Express.
Sources said the swearing in of the new government is likely to take place on Wednesday. The party is thinking about appointing one or two deputy chief ministers. Read Manoj C G's report
The Congress is all set to meet in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday to take stock of the situation and analyse where it went wrong.
While Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra has convened a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party at 11 am, at the same time the party leadership in Madhya Pradesh will meet all 230 candidates to discuss their poor performance. The party will discuss, among other things, the way forward.
MP Congress president Kamal Nath and senior leaders Digvijaya Singh and Suresh Pachouri are among those who will address the meeting. One big decision before the party is deciding who will lead it going forward. Read more
Now that it has won the big battle and swept Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan elections, making it all the more difficult for the Congress to narrow the gap ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, comes the big task for the BJP to decide who will lead the party governments in Bhopal, Raipur and Jaipur.
The resounding victories have made sure that the central leadership, which fought the elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name – or, alternatively, “the party’s” – will get to choose its person. It also allows the high command a free hand in bringing fresh faces to the fore in the state.
There have also been suggestions that the party could shift Raman Singh, Chouhan and Raje to the Centre to effect a complete generation shift in the state units. Read Liz Mathew's report
Amid the bipolar battle between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, tribal parties may have won only five seats, but their influence appears writ large in at least 24 seats, including the constituency of Niwas where Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste lost to the Congress.
The parties stood second in four of the 24 constituencies. In the rest, they polled more votes than the victory margin of either the Congress or the BJP. The BJP took home 12 of these seats and the Congress won eight.
The parties — the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP), and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) — in effect had an impact on almost one-third of all the ST-reserved constituencies in the three Hindi heartland states (there are a total of 101 such seats). The BAP was the star performer winning five constituencies and standing second in four. Read Full Report
In his speech after the BJP swept to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a victory of the poor, the deprived and the tribals, among others. The acknowledgment is with a reason — aspirational districts, some of the most backward in the country, and constituencies reserved for tribals have fuelled the BJP’s win in the three states whose results were declared on Sunday.
Of the 112 aspirational districts identified by the government, 26 are spread across the four states and account for 81 Assembly seats — Madhya Pradesh (35 seats), Chhattisgarh (21), Rajasthan (17) and Telangana (8). The BJP won 52 of these 81 seats, doubling its 2018 tally of 23, while the Congress managed to win only 24 seats in the aspirational districts, down from the 52 it won in 2018. Read Full Report
As the state continued celebrations in full gusto over the BJP's victory in Madhya Pradesh, the outgoing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was seen having a quiet dinner with his family in Bhopal.
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NOW THAT it has won the big battle and swept Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan elections, making it all the more difficult for the Congress to narrow the gap ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, comes the big task for the BJP to decide who will lead the party governments in Bhopal, Raipur and Jaipur.
The resounding victories have made sure that the central leadership, which fought the elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name – or, alternatively, “the party’s” – will get to choose its person. It also allows the high command a free hand in bringing fresh faces to the fore in the state.
Read the full story here
The Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan dissolved the State Legislative Assembly after the recommendation from the Council of Ministers.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar evaded questions on the probable CM faces, adding that the opinions of all the MLAs are being considered.
Amid the bipolar battle between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, tribal parties may have won only five seats, but their influence appears writ large in at least 24 seats, including the constituency of Niwas where Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste lost to the Congress.
The parties — the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP), and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) — in effect had an impact on almost one-third of all the ST-reserved constituencies in the three Hindi heartland states (there are a total of 101 such seats). The BAP was the star performer winning five constituencies and standing second in four.
Read the full story here
Speaking to reporters outside Vasudhara Raje's Jaipur residence, BJP leader and former minister Kalicharan Saraf said, "The party leadership will decide on who will be the chief minister. Vasundhara Raje is our leader but the party leadership will take the decision."
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sachin Pilot told ANI that he will continue to work for the party and people.
As the Winter Session of Parliament got underway, a light moment was seen between Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP MP Yogi Balaknath, where the former is seen calling the latter "Rajasthan ke naye CM (Rajasthan's new CM)". Balaknath defeated Congress leader Imran Khan in the Tijara seat by a margin of 6,173 votes and is considered among the chief ministerial candidates in the state.
Following the BJP's win in three states, Chairman of Democratic Progressive Azad Party Ghulam Nabi Azad and former senior Congress leader said the party needs to change "several things". "Until the party does so it will not be able to defeat BJP," he told reporters.
In a show of rare bonhomie despite opposing political ideologies, former CM Kamal Nath called on outgoing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the latter's residence after the BJP registered a victory in Madhya Pradesh.
Ten of the 12 Congress MLAs defected to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi) in June 2019, causing a major embarrassment to Congress and reducing its strength in the Telangana Assembly, have lost in this election. Their defection led to the Congress losing the status of main Opposition and second-largest party in the House, leaving party leaders seething.
Read the full story here
Among the CM contenders are Rajasthan BJP heavyweight and former chief minister Vasudhara Raje, Diya Kumari, who is a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family, party MP CP Joshi and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Rajasthan BJP leader Balaknath, considered another contender, remained non-committal over the possibility of his becoming the chief minister. Asked who is going to be the chief minister of Rajasthan, he evaded a direct reply and said, "Aap sab ki kripa hai (it is your kindness). I have dedicated my life to public service. I am serving the party. I am engaged in serving people."
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the longest-serving BJP chief minister, is being hailed as a key figure behind BJP’s performance in the polls, write Anand Mohan J and Vikas Pathak. The agricultural revolution and welfare schemes implemented in the state under his tenure, along with PM Narendra Modi’s popularity and the party’s organisational strength, paid off at the ballot.
Follow Live Updates and Analysis from Madhya Pradesh here
The BJP peaked in the Hindi heartland in 2019 to get to 303, how can it possibly repeat its performance in 2024, after 10 years of anti-incumbency? This was a refrain in the Opposition as it made a case of bringing the BJP below the majority mark.
That is now up in the air – and the first takeaway from Verdict Day.
Read the Neerja Chowdhury column here
Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), which contested the Telangana Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, failed to make a mark, with all its eight candidates losing their deposits.
The BJP, which managed to double its vote share from around 6% in 2018 to about 14%, was banking on the JSP to use its “Andhra card” to target the “settler” population, especially in urban areas of the state. However, with the exception of Kukatpally in Hyderabad – known to have a significant chunk of voters who have migrated from Andhra Pradesh – the JSP sank.
Read the full story here
A meeting of newly elected Congress MLAs in Rajasthan will be held in Jaipur on Tuesday, the party said. Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra has called a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.
Four Hindu priests have been elected to the Rajasthan Assembly in this election after being fielded by the BJP which wooed voters on the Hindutva plank, vociferously raising issues of alleged minority appeasement.
Among the four priests turned politicians, Baba Balaknath, who is an MP from Alwar and has won from the hotly-contested Tijara seat, has often courted controversies with his remarks, while Balmukund Acharya, elected from Hawa Mahal, came into limelight after he launched a campaign against the "demolition" of temples in the area.
Former Indian cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin, who contested the polls on his home pitch in Telangana for the first time, was stumped by his BRS rival. Azharuddin, who contested the election from the Jubilee Hills constituency in Hyderabad, lost to Maganti Gopinath, the sitting MLA, by 16,337 votes.
Azharuddin, who hails from Hyderabad, began his political innings with a bang by winning from the Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh in 2009 on behalf of Congress. However, he lost from Rajasthan's Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in 2014. He is the Working President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).
The BJP won more than half of the 34 seats in the Gwalior-Chambal region, but many who had joined the party in 2020 along with Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia after revolting against the Congress bit the dust.
The Gwalior Chambal region, considered a stronghold of Scindia, saw the defeat of Congress turncoats Imarti Devi from Dabra, Raghuraj Singh Kansana from Morena, Jajpal Singh Jaggi from Ashok Nagar, Rajvardhan Singh Prem Singh Dattigaon from Badnawar, state minister Suresh Dhakad Ranthkheda from Pohari, and Mahendra Sisodia from Bamori.
Those who won comprised Pradhuman Singh Tomar from Gwalior, Govind Singh Rajput from Surkhi, Dr Prabhuram Choudhary from Sanchi, Tulsiram Silawat from Sanwer besides Brijendra Singh Yadav from Mungaoli, Manoj Choudhary from Hatpipliya and Mohan Singh Rathore from Bhitarwar.
The BJP inflicted a blow to the Congress and the BSP in Rajasthan by breaking into their traditional Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes community vote bank as it swept the Assembly elections in the state, winning 115 of the 199 where polling took place.
Of the 34 SC reserved seats that went to the polls, the BJP won 22 and the Congress 11. An Independent candidate won the other seat. Among the 25 seats reserved for ST candidates, the BJP won 12, the Congress 10 and the Bhartiya Adivasi Party three.
A little over two percentage points separated the vote share of the BJP and the Congress. In 2018, less than one percentage point separated the winner from the loser.
The BJP received 41.69 per cent of the total votes polled this time, an improvement of 2.41 percentage points over 2018, while the Congress and the BSP's vote share declined by 0.29 percentage points and 2.26 percentage points respectively. The BSP's vote share which was 4.08 per cent in 2018, reduced to 1.82 per cent this time. The vote share of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and the AAP remained almost intact and negligible. The RLP's vote share was recorded at 2.39 per cent though it won only one constituency with Hanuman Beniwal managing to secure his seat. The party had won three seats in 2018 with a 2.4 per cent vote share.
A slim two percent shift in votes toward the Congress led to K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS losing power to the grand old party in the assembly polls. The Congress secured victory by claiming 64 seats in the 119-member assembly, attaining a 39.40% vote share, surpassing BRS, which won 39 segments with a 37.35% vote share.
The BJP, initially emerging as a primary challenger to the BRS after winning a few by-polls and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, ultimately doubled its vote share and improved its tally to eight seats. In the 2018 polls, the saffron party secured just one seat with a seven per cent vote share.
The AIMIM party led by Asaduddin Owaisi retained its seat tally while almost maintaining its vote share. The Hyderabad-centric party secured seven seats, obtaining 2.22% of the votes compared to 2.7% in 2018.
Chhattisgarh outgoing Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo said that the results of the state assembly elections declared a day earlier were 'unexpected' for him as he had not visualised his defeat. "It was not expected. I did not visualise that I would lose or the Congress party would not come to power in the state...No one was able to guess that Congress would not be able to form its government in Chhattisgarh. All the exit polls that came out, gave the government to the Congress in Chhattisgarh, everyone went wrong," Singh said.
When it comes to education, in Chhattisgarh, the proportion of MLAs with at least a graduate degree has reduced from 69 per cent in 2018 to 59 per cent in 2023.
In MP, the proportion of MLAs with graduation degree was 44 per cent in 2018. It has come down to 36 per cent in the latest assembly, while the number of post-graduates has gone up from 27 per cent to 35 per cent.
A majority of the MLAs in Rajasthan have a graduate degree. In 2018 more than half of the elected women and about a quarter of the elected men were post-graduates. The proportion remains similar in 2023.
In Telangana, 72 MLAs elected in 2023 have at least a graduate degree. This is 15 per cent lower than the number in 2018, when it was 85.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga called on Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and submitted his resignation following the defeat of his party Mizo National Front in the Assembly elections.
The MNF has won nine seats and is leading in one, while the opposition Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) secured majority by bagging 27 seats in the 40-member House. Zoramthanga himself also lost to ZPM's Lalthansanga by 2,101 votes in the Aizawl East-1 seat, according to the Election Commission.
The number of older MLAs also remains high in all assemblies, with Chhattisgarh, MP, and Telangana seeing their assemblies grow older.
In Chhattisgarh, the proportion of MLAs above the age of 55 years is 41 per cent in the new assembly. In MP, 50 per cent of MLAs are above the age of 55 this time. This proportion was 38 per cent in 2018, 30 per cent in 2013, and 21 per cent in 2008.
In Rajasthan, in 2018, 48 per cent of the elected members (95 out of 200), were above 55. The proportion has marginally decreased in the new Assembly, settling at 46 per cent. In Telangana, the average age of the newly elected MLAs is 56. The proportion of MLAs above 55 there has increased from 39 per cent in 2018 to 60 per cent in 2023.
The number of women MLAs in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh assemblies remains much below the one-third mark, as provided under the women's reservation bill passed by Parliament recently, data compiled by think tank PRS Legislative Research said. Their number in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh assemblies has gone up marginally, while it has gone down in Rajasthan, the data said.
Chhattisgarh scores the highest among all four states with 21 per cent of its newly elected lawmakers women. In Telangana, the number of women MLAs went up to 10, or 8 per cent of the total. In 2018, the state sent six women to its assembly. In Rajasthan, the number of women MLAs was 24 in 2018, which came down to 20 this time. Their number in Rajasthan assembly has never exceeded 15 per cent, the report said. In Madhya Pradesh, 30 women were elected to the assembly in 2013, while in 2018, only 21 women could find a place in the House. This time, the state has elected 27 women.
BJP leader Ramesh Mendola won by the highest victory margin of 1,07,047 votes from Inodre-2 seat in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, while party candidate Arun Bhimawad bagged Shajapur seat by the lowest margin of just 28 votes.
MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP's woman legislator Krishna Gaur also registered victory margins of more than one lakh votes.
During a Congress Legislative Party meeting of newly-elected MLAs in Telangana, a resolution was passed to authorise AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the CLP leader.
A day after the BJP won three of the four Assembly elections, BSP chief Mayawati said the "one-sided results" in the four states have made people "apprehensive, astonished and worried" as she convened a meeting of her party members to discuss the 2024 Lok Sabha polls strategy. The meeting will be held in Lucknow on December 10.
"It is natural for all the people to be doubtful, surprised and worried when the results of the assembly elections in the four states were one-sided. Considering the entire atmosphere of the elections, such a strange result is a matter of concern for the people and very difficult to accept," Mayawati said on X.
"The atmosphere during the entire election was that of a neck-and-neck fight. But the election result being completely different and one-sided is such a mysterious matter that it requires serious thinking and needs to be solved. A terrible 'mistake' in sensing people's mood is a new topic of discussion."
Asking her party members not to be disheartened by the results, she said, "All people of BSP fought this election with full strength... They should not be disappointed by such a result and keep trying to move forward by taking inspiration from the life and struggles of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar."
BJP's win in three out of four state elections will boost sentiment in the country's equity markets, potentially drawing higher foreign inflows on confidence in political stability, analysts were quoted as saying by Reuters. The results will also reduce the risk of fiscal populism ahead of national elections next year, they added.
"While we saw no probability of BJP losing central elections, state election outcome adds confidence ... These developments along with peaking of interest rates globally, bodes well for FII flows," PhillipCapital analyst Anjali Verma wrote.
While the state election outcomes have shown no correlation with national polls in the past, the latest results mitigate the threat of political uncertainty over the markets for the next five months, Motilal Oswal analysts said. "This augurs well for macro and policy momentum for India, which, at the moment, is seeing the highest growth among major economies," Motilal Oswal said.
The results will also ease fears of fiscal populism in the run-up to the general elections. "After the state election results, there is no significant pressure on the central government to announce a large fiscal stimulus in the February interim budget before the national elections," Citi analysts said.
For the first since the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, the new assembly will not have any MLA belonging to erstwhile royal families as all seven candidates fielded by Congress, BJP, and AAP bit dust.
Prominent among the royals to lose the turf was senior Congress leader and outgoing deputy chief minister TS Singhdeo.
Among the seven royals, the Congress and BJP had fielded three candidates each and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one. They are TS Singh Deo, Ambica Singhdeo, and Devendra Bahadur Singh (all from Congress), and Sanyogita Singh Judev, Prabal Pratap Singh Judev, and Sanjeev Shah of BJP. These three candidates of the Congress were MLAs in the outgoing assembly.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly always had members from erstwhile royal families in all five terms since the state was formed in 2000.
2003 Assembly elections: In the first assembly elections held in Chhattisgarh in 2003 after the state was formed in 2000, the BJP managed to make deep inroads among tribals, who were once considered staunch supporters of the Congress. The BJP registered a victory as it defeated the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government by winning 50 seats, including 25 reserved for the ST category. The Congress then won nine ST-reserved seats.
2008 Assembly elections: The BJP again formed government by winning 50 seats in the state, including 19 out of 29 ST-reserved seats, while the Congress won 10 ST-reserved seats. A delimitation exercise reduced the ST-reserved seats from 34 to 29 in the state in 2008.
2013 Assembly polls: Tribal voters drifted and they significantly voted for the Congress, which missed getting majority to form government. The Congress had managed to win 18 out of the 29 tribal-reserved seats, but its overall tally was limited to 39. The BJP then registered its third consecutive win by clinching 49 seats, including 11 ST-reserved, in the 90-member assembly.
2018 Assembly polls: The Congress registered a landslide victory winning 68 seats in the state, ending the 15-year rule of Raman Singh-led BJP. Out of the 29 ST-reserved seats, the Congress then won 25, BJP-3 and JCC (J)-1 . Later, the Congress clinched two more ST-reserved seats - Marwahi and Dantewada - in bypolls.
Several incidents of clashes were reported between tribals and the tribals who converted to Christianity in different areas of the state, particularly in Bastar division, related to religious conversion in the last couple of years. The issue continued to haunt the ruling Congress during electioneering as top BJP leaders in their poll campaigning aggressively targeted the Bhupesh Baghel government, accusing it of giving protection to those who indulged in conversion
Tribal pockets in Surguja and Bastar division also witnessed protests against mining.
The BJP put up a good show this time winning 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. Poll experts told PTI that the BJP's rallies in the tribal belt, launch of the party's two parivartan yatras from tribal pockets and pre-poll promises worked in the party's favour in the adivasi belt.
Chhattisgarh BJP's Anusuchit Janjati Morcha (Scheduled Tribe wing) president Vikas Markam said that tribals have once again reposed faith in his party as the "Congress did nothing for them in five years."
In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, 29 seats are reserved for the ST category, which comprises around 32 per cent of the state's population. The Congress, which won 25 ST-reserved seats in the 2018 assembly polls, managed to secure just 11 this time. On the other hand, the BJP significantly improved its tally from 3 in 2018 to 17 tribal-dominated seats this time. One tribal seat was bagged by the GGP.
The Zoram People’s Movement — that emerged as a serious contender in these Assembly elections — has won a clear majority with 20 out of 40 assembly seats. The MNF has won 7 seats, followed by BJP which has clinched 2 seats so far.
Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) candidates have secured a total of 17 seats in the Mizoram Assembly elections. Lalduhoma, ZPM’s Chief Ministerial candidate, has secured a clear victory in the Serchhip constituency.
'It is true that the performance of the Indian National Congress in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was disappointing and far below our own expectations. But the vote shares tell a story of a Congress that is not very behind the BJP—in fact, it is within striking distance,' Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote in a post on X.
The ECI has now declared results for 13 out 40 Mizoram seats, of which 11 have been won by the ZPM, and one each by the BJP. The ZPM’s Chief Ministerial candidate Lalduhoma has registered a decisive win from the Serchhip constituency, defeating the MNF candidate by 2982. With this, he is most likely set to become the next Mizoram Chief Minister.
ZPM is surging ahead in Mizoram, after clinching 7 seats in the state. The party is presently leading in 19 seats. BJP has won seat so far.
While the ECI has not yet declared the result of the seat, incumbent Chief Minister Zoramthanga is set to lose his Aizawl East-I seat to ZPM’s Lalthansanga. After all rounds of counting, he is trailing by 2101 votes.
This significant defeat is largely in line with Mizoram’s trend of voting out the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party that loses.
Lalnghinglova Hmar of Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) clinched the party’s second victory today in Aizawl West-II constituency. Notably, both of ZPM’s triumphs have been against sitting ministers, with Hmar defeating state cabinet minister Lalruatkima and W. Chhuanawma overcoming incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia in Tuichang.
ZPM is in the lead with 26 seats, followed by the MNF with six seats, BJP with three seats, and the Congress with two seats. After the initial round of counting, Zoramthanga is currently behind in the race.
Addressing reporters before the Winter Session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this was a “golden opportunity for Opposition parties to do something constructive”. He added that their nine years of spreading negativity had not paid results, as was clear by yesterday’s results, and this was a chance for them to “change”.
With trends in from all 40 seats now, the ZPM has established a sizeable lead, having won one seat and leading in 26 others. The ruling MNF is leading in just 9 seats now.
A day after the BJP’s thumping victory in three states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the results “very encouraging”.
“When there is commitment to people’s welfare then the word anti-incumbency becomes irrelevant,” the PM said ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament.
The counting process for the Mizoram Assembly election is now in progress. Currently, the tallying of postal ballots is underway. ZPM is in the lead with 22 seats, followed by the MNF with 11 seats, Congress with three seats, and the BJP with two seats.