BJP set to 'sweep' Hindi heartland, Congress seeks solace in Telangana

Six months after its rout in Karnataka elections, the Bhartiya Janata Party on Sunday appears to be pulling off a spectacular comeback to sweep Congress out of power in the three heartland states by successfully defending its government in Madhya Pradesh and wresting back power from the Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The only face-saver for the Congress came south of the Vindhyas in Telangana where the party managed to end 10 years of Bharat Rashtra Samithi rule to consolidate its southern dominance.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the results consolidate BJP’s pole position in the national polity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led the campaign even as the party did not name CM face in any state. For the Congress, the outcome is a setback for its efforts to rally the opposition and claim leadership positions in the I.N.D.I.A alliance.  

BJP scripted the biggest upset of these elections in Madhya Pradesh where chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defied pundits and pollsters as the party headed towards a two-thirds majority in the house of 230.

Propelled by a slew of social welfare schemes especially the flagship Laadli Behna Yojna, the mama of Madhya Pradesh politics looks all set for a record fifth term in office. The vote count indicates that the electorate was not too convinced by Congress’ promises to better the existing freebies offered by BJP. Congress, led by its septuagenarian leadership in Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, failed to inspire confidence in the electorate despite tailwinds and two decades of anti-incumbency against the BJP.

In the adjoining Chhattisgarh, the BJP seems to have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and looks headed for a comfortable majority. Congress led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is witnessing major reverses in the 26 seats in the tribal belts of Sargujha and Bastar. Despite a leadership vacuum, the BJP in Chhattisgarh relied on an aggressive campaign and like in other states fielded many sitting Lok Sabha MPs to make inroads in Congress’ bastion.

Congress’ woes in the 5 states that went to the elections in this round have been aggravated by the western disturbance which seems to have swept away the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan. Despite not announcing a CM candidate in Vasundhara Raje, BJP is heading for a comfortable majority in the state ending Gehlot’s third term in office and opening up the possibilities of the emergence of new leadership in the state in both the national parties.

The only positive tiding for the Congress this election is coming from Telangana, where the party seems to have capitalized on its Karnataka victory and made major gains both in terms of seats and share to end 10 years of K Chandrashekhar Rao’s chief ministership. There is good news for the BJP in Telangana as well, where the party has made gains in the northern party in the state and this performance may come in handy in the Lok Sabha polls.