BJP loses two states, close contest in Madhya Pradesh, KCR sweeps Telengana, Congress loses Mizoram

The dream run of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came across a serious stumbling block with the results of five Assembly elections out today.

BJP lost two states – Chhattisgarh where it ruled for three terms and Rajasthan where it has ruled for the past five years.

In Chhattisgarh, Congress won 64 out of the 90 Assembly seats, up by 25 seats from the last term. The BJP got 17 seats, which is a huge loss of 32 seats. The number required to form the government in the state is 46. The BSP won eight seats here.

BJP outgoing chief minister Raman Singh said he was taking the responsibility of the loss and would act as a worthy Opposition in the coming term. He sent his resignation letter to the governor.

In Rajasthan, the Congress has already reached the 100 seat mark out of the 199 – the exact figure required to form the government. It is leading in these seats and the figure may go up. It is a gain of 79 seats for the Congress from its last term. The BJP suffered a loss of 88 seats here, leading in only 74 seats. The BSP got six seats here.

The contest in Madhya Pradesh is perhaps turning out to be the most interesting, with BJP and Congress fighting neck to neck to reach the top slot. The magic figure to form the government here is 116. The Congress, till the last count, was leading in 111 seats while the BJP was leading in 110. The BJP has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for three consecutive terms since 2003. Congress is said to be reaching out to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), the Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP), the independents leading in the state.

Mayawati, who did not go for a tie-up with the Congress ahead of the polls in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is going to hold a meeting in Delhi with the members of her party who have won in the election.

The contest in Telengana was rather one-sided, with TRS winning 87 out of the 119 seats, a clear majority from the magic figure of 60 required to form the government. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said he would work for the poor, especially the farmers who were in distress. Rao holds a serious ambition to be in the national political scenario in 2019, and this win certainly gives him an edge.

The Congress’ performance in Mizoram was a stark contrast to its performance in the three states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The party managed to win only five seats in Mizoram where it was running a government. The Mizo National Front (MNF) was leading in 26 seats here, winning five seats more than what is required to form the government and thus sending the Congress out of power.