The BJP today made history in Assam by getting its first government in the north east, decimating Congress which was dethroned in Kerala too even as two women Chief Ministers Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee romped home for a second consecutive term in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. It was only in Assam that he shared the platform with the Congress dissidents who are now heading the state BJP, in that he limited his campaign to fewer meetings than before.
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India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gotten a much-needed boost in regional elections, wrestling control of the northeastern state of Assam and expanding its influence beyond its traditional strongholds.
The Left’s alliance with the Congress has won a mere 60 seats and is ahead in 13, which puts it ahead in a paltry 73 seats.
A Congress-led alliance also lost in Kerala, and poll tie-ups with other parties failed in both Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
And interestingly, the Congress party that was buried by several anchors and BJP spokespersons in the first flush of the Assam victory has actually increased its vote percentage in all states, except of course Kerala. And true enough, Sonowal led the party to a landslide win.
Taking a dig at the Congress, which lost two of its states in the Assembly polls, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Friday wondered whether it would “stand behind a hotchpotch combination of ideologically disparate regional groups” to raise a challenge to the BJP-led NDA in 2019.
The results are a major setback for Congress, which has worked with other opposition parties to block Prime Minister Modi’s economic reforms, notably the introduction of a nationwide tax on consumption, in the upper house of India’s Parliament.
“Across India, people are placing their faith in BJP and see it as the party that can usher in all-round and inclusive development”, Modi tweeted.
He has also faced criticism from some of leaders who left the party including Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been instrumental in BJP’s victory in Assam.
With just 44 seats, the party ensured the blocking of the anti-farmer land Bill. “It is a border state from where a Congress PM [Manmohan Singh] ruled for 10 years and now we have been able to have our own government”.
While the BJP candidates won from Haflong, Bokajan, Howrghat and Diphu, the Congress could retain only Baithalangso constituency.
But on Thursday it was declared that AIADMK had won 134 seats, compared to the DMK’s 86.
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“The strengthening of support for the BJP at the local level should make it easier for policies at the national level to filter into individual states”, said Capital Economics, a macroeconomic research firm. The good news for Congress came from Puducherry, where it is poised to form government in alliance with the DMK.
