Congress makes inroads,goes from 4 to 12

The Congress vastly shored up its performance in Madhya Pradeshone of the states where the BJP had almost taken its success for granted....

The Congress vastly shored up its performance in Madhya Pradeshone of the states where the BJP had almost taken its success for grantedby winning 12 out of 29 seats,which is a great improvement over its measly tally of four in 2004.

The Bahujan Samaj Party BSP won Rewa,its first victory in the state after 13 years,and came very close to causing an upset in Satna. In 1996,the party had won both these seats but then drew a blank in the subsequent elections.

The BJP,which won the Assembly elections only six months agoit bucked anti-incumbency,winning 143 seats in the 230-member house and becoming the first party other than the Congress to ever complete a full-term in the statewas shocked by its poor performance. The party won 16 seats. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state party in-charge Sushma Swaraj said the results were way below expectations and would be reviewed in detail.

PCC President Suresh Pachauri described the Congress performance as shandaar. Union ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia expectedly sailed through but what must have satisfied the Congress was its performance in BJP bastions like the Malwa region. The party won Dewas,Dhar,Ratlam and Mandsaur.

Senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan retained Indore but by a slender margin. She had alleged that her local rivals in the party were viciously trying to sabotage her prospects. In four out of six elections she won consecutively before 2009,her victory margins varied between one lakh and two lakh.

The BJPs Gwalior candidate Yashodhara Raje Scindia,whose supporters alleged lack of support from leaders,blamed the partys poor showing on the organisation. Its time the organisation did some soul-searching, she told The Indian Express.

Sushma Swarajs victory in Vidisha was a forgone conclusion after her Congress rival Rajkumar Patels nomination was rejected. Of the two BJP MPs who flashed wads of cash in Parliament,Faggan Singh Kulaste was defeated in Mandla,while Ashok Argal won from Bhind. Chandrabhan Singh,who was expelled from the BJP after he remained absent during the trust vote,lost from Damoh.

Story continues below this ad

HRD Minister Arjun Singhs daughter Veena Singh,who contested as Independent after being denied the Congress ticket,lost in Sidhi. The partys official candidate,Indrajit Patel,in whose favour Arjun Singh campaigned for less than three minutes,lost,leaving the BJP to benefit from the infighting.

Former chief minister and AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singhs brother Laxman Singh lost in Rajgarh. The junior Singh had defected to the BJP ahead of the 2004 general election. The senior Singh had campaigned against his brother.

Congress candidate from Mandsaur,Meenakshi Natarajan,believed to be close to Rahul Gandhi,defeated Laxminarayan Pande,BJP veteran of several battles and senior to her by four decades.

The BJP found its showing in the state hard to digest,especially after the head start it had got,having announced the candidates much before the Congress.