NAGPUR, March 3: The janata in Vidarbha made an incredible statement this Lok Sabha elections making the saffron see red and surprising parties, political pundits and media alike.All 11 Lok Sabha seats in the region have fallen into the bag of the Congress-RPI combine, when the figure was just two last time over. Never since the 1984 general election, has the Congress bagged all 11 seats of Vidarbha. In the post-Rajiv assassination wave of 1991 too it had lost a seat each to the CPM and the BJP.At first sight, a stunning 20.56 per cent vote swing in favour of the down-and-out Congress does look quite miraculous. From a vote-share of 39.08 per cent in Vidarbha in the 1991 elections, the Congress had come down to 31.22 per cent in 1996. Now, it is a whopping 51.78 per cent.The BJP-Sena alliance had grown from 28.94 per cent in 1991 to 40.25 per cent in 1996 - an increase of 11.31 per cent. This election it's a mere 1.68 per cent. The important thing is that 51.78 per cent of the votes for theCongress-RPI spread evenly over the 11 constituencies. This speaks conclusively of a rejection of the ruling alliance in the state.When the Congress was discredited the voters here opted for the only other alternative - BJP-Sena - in the 1995 Assembly elections. Then, attributing the alliance government's bungling up of crucial issues to inexperience and pardoning it, the people voted for them again in the 1996 elections. Blind to the undercurrents and over-confidence on the other, the alliance continued on their path. The voters gave them a third chance in the 1997 elections to urban local bodies and Panchayats.For three years in succession, their government messed up cotton prices which affects a huge proportion of Vidarbha's rural population. The unsatisfactory response to the plight of farmers affected unseasonal rains and hail last season was the last straw.Inexperience in rural matters, being largely urban-based and in control of the government's policy-making and implementation decisions,the Sena refused to see a potential political threat. The BJP, apparently, failed to convince its "senior partner" about the importance of the issue.This time, the people saw the Congress emerge as a viable alternative. Not that the warring party leaders united overnight, but at least they did not work actively against each other as they had done in the past.
