Chandigarh, December 12: The Congress was poised on Wednesday to form governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, signalling a newfound energy in the party ranks and energising opposition efforts to stop the BJP juggernaut before the general election next year.
Belying predictions of exit polls, the Congress won convincingly in Chhattisgarh, less so in Rajasthan, and scraped through with a wafer-thin lead in Madhya Pradesh, final results showed after the vote count on Tuesday.
All eyes now are on party president Rahul Gandhi;s choice of chief ministers of the three states, which he will decide after the victorious MLAs finish their meetings in the three states.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi described the party’s good showing in the Hindi heartland states as a victory over the BJP’s “negative politics”.
It was a “Congress victory over the BJP’s negative politics,” she said.
In Rajasthan, the contenders for the chief minister’s post are Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, both of whom won huge victories in their constituencies.
“We have full majority and will stake claim to form government in the evening. We will take along all non-BJP parties and elected members who are against the BJP and are willing to support us,” Pilot told reporters at the Pradesh Congress Committee before the Congress Legislature Party meeting.
Asked about the choice of the chief minister, Pilot said the party’s newly elected MLAs would debate the question, and the party president would take a decision after that. AICC general secretary Avinash Pande and party observer KC Venugopal will seek individual opinion of the party MLAs in the meeting.
The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in Rajasthan in Tuesday’s vote count, winning 99 seats. Its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) won one seat for a total of 100 seats–the required number to form government.
The BJP got 73 seats, and the Bahujan Samaj Party won six. BSP leader Mayawati on Wednesday pledged support for the Congress. The CPI (M) got two seats, Independents won 13 and other parties got six, according to the state Election Commission.
In Chhattisgarh, the contenders for the CM post are Lok Sabha member Tamradhwaj Sahu, who successfully contested the Assembly election from Durg Rural seat, state party chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior leader TS Singhdeo.
The Congress victory in Chhattisgarh ended the 15-year rule of the Raman Singh-led BJP government. It won 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while the BJP got only 15.
A party needs to win 46 seats to form government in the state.
“The Congress Legislature Party meeting will be held at 8 pm. All India Congress Committee observer Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC in-charge for the state PL Punia and other senior leaders will be present there,” state party unit’s general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told PTI.
The chief minister is likely to be announced after the meeting.
The Congress got 43 per cent of the total votes polled in the state, while the BJP got 33 per cent.
After a see-saw battle on Tuesday, the Congress emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh with 114 seats, two short of a simple majority. The BJP, which had ruled the state for 15 years, got 109 seats.
Three-time Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhhan tendered his resignation on Wednesday to Governor Anandiben Patel, who then met a Congress delegation here at noon after party leaders staked claim to the government.
Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav announced their parties’ support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. The BSP got two and the SP one seat in the MP Assembly polls.
The Congress has also claimed support of the four independents, all Congress rebels, who emerged victorious.
After meeting the Governor, senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia came out of the Raj Bhavan and flashed victory signs.
In Mumbai, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the Assembly election results marked the “beginning of a change” and a “rejection” of the BJP-led government’s policies.
Pawar, who turned 78 on Wednesday, said his party would support the Congress and also suggested that the SP and the BSP throw their weight behind the Congress.
Referring to the constant criticism of Rahul Gandhi by the BJP, the former Union minister said people did not like the Congress president being “ridiculed”.
“People have expressed disappointment against the Modi government…the Assembly poll results mark the beginning of a change…people rejected the anti-farmers, anti-traders policies of Modi,” Pawar told reporters.
The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, said people had brought “those flying in the air back to the ground”.
In an editorial in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party alleged that the country was being run according to the “whims” of four-five businessmen, and this was “breaking” important institutions like the Reserve Bank of India.
The BJP first “drove away” allies and later lost important states, it said, adding that elections could not be won merely on the back of big talks.
“The results clearly show that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah’s dream of making the country Congress-mukt has gone to the dust in BJP’s own regime. People of these states have indicated at a ‘BJP-mukt’ regime,” the Marathi publication said.
Source Tribune India
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