The Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has returned to power in the southern state of Kerala defeating the ruling Congress party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) by 91-47.
Advertisement
“In Kerala, the Congress and the Left keep winning by turns”.
“The unmatched efforts and sacrifice of our workers in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have established a strong party base in these states”.
From the BJP point of view, the outcome also shows that the party had created an electoral machine that was capable of exploiting the smallest weakness of the Opposition and maximise its own strength with committed cadres and effective leadership, which worked 24×7 to achieve its objective of “Congress-mukt Bharat”. The first positive sign has already come in the form of Mamata Banerjee announcing her support for the much-delayed GST bill in Parliament.
The high-stakes elections saw the end of Congress rule in Assam where it had scored a hat-trick last time under Tarun Gogoi.
In a much-awaited victory, the BJP was poised to take power in Assam.
While Rahul Gandhi emerged as a more articulate leader over the previous year following his over 50-day sabbatical, he has not brought about any major organizational change in the party’s central set up since the defeat in Lok Sabha polls.
BJP-led NDA had crossed absolute majority mark in the 126 members Assam assembly election declared on Thursday.
The party had expectations of pulling it off in Kerala, of at least a hung assembly in Assam and finishing victorious in Tamil Nadu as a junior ally of DMK.
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who is part of party’s Margdarshak Mandal and was among the veterans who were critical of Modi-Shah leadership after the Bihar debacle past year, has written to both the PM and the party chief, congratulating them for BJP’s success in these polls. The strategic alliance between the BJP, AGP and the BPF highlighted this historical blunder of the Congress. In Tamil Nadu, it was a laggard in the DMK-Congress alliance.
Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang has voiced hope of building “a much better working relationship” with the new BJP government under the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam. The Grand Old Party won 15 seats in 30-seat Assembly. “We seek to work in cooperation with the Governments of the regional parties”.
Advertisement
“The strategic alliance between the BJP, AGP and the BPF highlighted this historical blunder of the Congress, ” the Union Finance Minister said.
