To ecstatic cheers from hundreds of workers who thronged the BJP headquarters on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi explained the ruling party’s jeet ka chauka (a hit for four) as a sign of things to come. The BJP has spread its wings from the Hindi heartland States of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to coastal Goa and Manipur in the North-East, Modi said. “Voters have buried the politics of caste and religion in Uttar Pradesh… Holi started from March 10. It is a victory for nationalism, good governance and welfare,” he said.
The results that have come in the middle of the PM’s second-term in office reflect a reaffirmation of faith in his popularity and cement the BJP’s pole position with a resounding close to two-thirds majority in UP, with 41.4 per cent vote share; return to power in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly with 47 seats and 44.3 per cent vote share, though the incumbent CM Pushkar Singh Dhami lost his own seat; a clear majority of 32 seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly and within touching distance of absolute majority with 20 seats in the 40-member Goa Assembly.
Astounding victory for AAP
The BJP predictably failed to make a dent in Punjab where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a spectacular debut, winning a staggering 92 seats and 42 per cent vote share. The AAP’s victory reflected a strong desire for change as the sitting CM Charanjeet Singh Channi and all the former CMs and bigwigs, including Captain Amarinder Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Navjot Singh Sidhu et al, lost from their respective constituencies.
For the BJP, it was an assertion of its primacy in Indian politics with aggressive welfarism, reflected in free rations, cooking gas, toilets, direct-to-cash transfers that created the novel category of labharthi (beneficiary) voters, which included a large number of women. The Assembly results simultaneously signalled a near-complete erosion of the Congress’ organisation, leadership credentials and strategic acumen.
Despite an exhaustive campaign by the party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in UP, the Congress managed to corner just 2.35 per cent of vote share and two seats in the politically most critical state in the country. In among the last bastions of the Congress in Punjab, the party was routed by AAP. The Congress could corner only 18 seats with two of its stalwarts — CM Charanjeet Singh Channi and star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu — losing their seats.
‘Congress’ decline structural’
In Manipur, where the Congress has been straining for a revival under the leadership of Okram Ibobi Singh, the party secured just five seats with 16.33 per cent vote share. In Uttarakhand, not only did it fail to dislodge the BJP, its chief ministerial candidate Harish Rawat lost his own Lalkuwa seat to BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht by 17,527 votes. The Congress toppled over in Goa too with just 11 seats in the 40-member House. “The Congress’ decline is structural. Our workers have lost faith. The leadership has collapsed,” said a senior Congress MP.
For the AAP, the results signalled a phase of expansion. Having bagged Punjab, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal declared that it is the beginning of a “revolution” in India.