The much-awaited results from the last round of Assembly polls before the Lok Sabha Elections of next year are out, with the BJP emerging as the biggest winner with wins in three states. The saffron party has swept through the Hindi heartland states, clinching Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from Congress’ grip and retained Madhya Pradesh, which it has ruled for over two decades now.
Although it could not hold on to its possessions in the Hindi belt, the Congress found solace in the south where it managed to topple K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS, which had been ruling Telangana since the state was formed almost a decade back.
The result came as a massive disappointment for the BRS, which was hoping to portray itself as a national party.
In Mizoram, where counting day was postponed by a day, history was created as for the first time a non-Congress and non-Mizo National Front leader will be sitting on the CM’s chair. Debutant Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), led by Lalduhoma, rode on the anti-incumbency sentiment in the state to sweep the polls.
Here we take a look at the biggest and narrowest victory margins from the five states that went to the polls this time.
Rajasthan
Diya Kumari, the princess of Jaipur, was the biggest winner in Rajsthan. The royal won the Vidhyadhar Nagar assembly seat against Congress' Sitaram Agarwal by a margin of 71,368 votes.
In Kotputli, Hansraj Patel of BJP, scrapped to victory over his Congress rival Rajendra Singh Yadav by just 321 votes.
Madhya Pradesh
In the Indore-2 constituency, Ramesh Mendola of BJP won by a margin of 1,07,047 votes, the biggest for any state in these elections.
In Shajapur seat, Arun Bhimawad of BJP scored a narrow victory over Congress’ Karada Hukumsingh, winning by just 28 votes.
Telangana
MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s brother and two-time MLA from Chandrayangutta Akbar Uddin Owaisi of AIMIM won his seat again and was the biggest winner in the Telangana elections with a victory margin of 81,660 votes.
In Chevella, Kale Yadaiah of BRS crossed the finish line with just 268 votes more than his rival Beem Bharath Pamena, a Congress candidate.
Chhattisgarh
The BJP candidate from Raipur City South, Brijmohan Agrawal, recorded the biggest victory in the state with a margin of 67,719 votes.
In a thrilling contest in Kanker, the BJP’s Asharam Netam got just 16 votes more than Shankar Dhruwa of Congress to win the seat.
Mizoram
The Aizawl North-II constituency candidate Dr Vanlalthlana of the ZPM won by the biggest margin in the state, getting 6,500 votes more than the second-placed Vanlalsawma of MNF.
In Tuirial, K Laldawngliana of the MNF won the seat by just 13 votes, making it the narrowest victory margin in the five states that went to the polls.