Two of India’s most powerful women politicians, Mamata Banerjee and J Jayalalithaa, won fresh terms as chief ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on Thursday, as the results of five state elections were announced. The Central leaders of the party should not hold back the state unit from going all-out against Mamata.
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“These results show that the people are accepting, appreciating and supporting our pro-development ideology”, Modi told supporters at his party’s headquarters in New Delhi.
The BJP won 60 seats on its own.
Under his leadership, BJP bagged seven of 14 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 general election – its best performance ever. The AIUDF, led by Badrudin Ajmal, won 13 seats, against 18 which had made it the largest opposition party in the Assembly.
The Congress improved a bit this time by getting 44 seats against 42 last time. Even in West Bengal, the BJP along with its allies has won 6 seats and increased its vote share to 11% from 4%.
In southern Tamil Nadu state, the regional AIADMK has secured a lead in 133 of the 234 seats, while its nearest rival, the DMK, is leading in 86 seats.
Although it got a majority, AIADMK slipped on its past performance of 2011 when it had got 150 seats. DMK emerged successful in two seats, giving the combine a clear majority as it bucked initial trends of a close fight with the AINRC.
The PMK, which contested all the seats, and the third front headed by actor Vijaykanth drew a blank.
Still the biggest electoral setback was for the Congress, which, apart from Assam, also lost in Kerala, where the ruling alliance it led lost to a Left-backed coalition.
In Union Territory Puducherry, Congress won in 17 seats while the NRC got 8 seats.
In Assam, the BJP projected Union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its chief ministerial candidate from the beginning, a strategy that worked well.
“People were fed up and they wanted a change… that’s why this time they’ve voted for BJP and its alliance partners”, said Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP’s Assam chief ministerial candidate. I dedicate the victory to people.
The Congress, with the ground slipping from below its feet, will hardly be in a moral position to oppose the NDA government’s legislations.
He also congratulated Himanta Biswa Sarma and other leaders in the alliance from Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and other tribal groups for the victory.
However, the BJP, which made its first major attempt to usurp power ousting the two fronts, failed miserably with only senior BJP leader O Rajagopal winning from Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram.
Rahul Gandhi said the party will “work harder” till it wins the confidence and trust of people.
“So the victory in Assam gives them an opportunity to then establish themselves in the northeast, where there are six other states”, says Manoj Joshi at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
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At the same time, PM Modi pointed out, “Formation of BJP government in Assam is equally surprising for some people as was the party’s participation in government in Jammu and Kashmir”.
