Obviously people are unhappy, says Sonia
Accepting the people’s verdict with “humility”, top leadership of the Congress on Sunday pledged to transform the party ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls for which it would announce its Prime Ministerial candidate “at the opportune time”.
Stating that the party was “very very disappointed” over the Assembly results in four States, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said there was a need to do “deep introspection”.
Ms. Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, party Vice-President, met journalists at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi to acknowledge the victory of “our opponents” whom she congratulated.
“Obviously people are unhappy. Otherwise they would not have given the results that they gave,” she said.
Briefly analysing the causes for the defeat, Ms. Gandhi said there were a number of reasons, which included price rise and different issues.
Ms. Gandhi expressed confidence that the results of assembly polls will not have a bearing on the next Lok Sabha polls.
“General elections are quite different. People in State elections do focus on personality at the State level, at leaders who are likely to lead them,” she said.
However, in national elections “people look at the person who is likely to guide them and govern them at the national level”, the Congress chief said.
Asked whether the Congress party would name its Prime Ministerial candidate against BJP’s Narendra Modi, Ms. Gandhi said, “people need not worry as, at an opportune time, the name of the Prime Ministerial candidate” will be announced.
Initially she appeared reluctant to give an answer when asked whether Mr. Rahul would be named as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
“We will make a Statement. The party has to decide. The party will decide at the opportune time,” she said.
Mr. Rahul said through the elections, “people have given us a message, which we have heard.”
The Congress party has to transform itself to stand up, he said. “We have to move to a new paradigm and give serious space to the common masses.”
Asked about the spectacular performance of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, he said both the major parties, Congress and BJP, had thought about politics in a traditional way.
“I think, we need to consider thinking in terms of empowering the people which I have been saying within the party. I am going to make this a central issue,” he said.
Maintaining that he would learn from the success of AAP, Mr. Rahul said the new party involved lot of people which traditional parties do not do.
“We are going to involve them (people) in a way you can’t imagine,” he said.
The ruling BJP comfortably coasted to victory in Madhya Pradesh, winning the mandate to be in power for the third consecutive five-year term.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 32 seats and was leading on 123 seats, breaching the half-way mark in the 230-member assembly and ensuring for the soft spoken Shivraj Singh Chouhan a third term as the chief minister. The Congress won from 10 constituencies and was leading in 57.
After a handsome win, a smiling Mr. Chouhan said it is only in the BJP that an ordinary party worker can become a chief minister.
He had tried his best to serve the people and would continue to work for the development and welfare of the state. He described the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in Madhya Pradesh as a triumph of its ideology.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was quick to hail Mr. Chouhan.
“Called Shivraj ji to congratulate him for BJP’s wonderful performance in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections!,” tweeted Mr. Modi after the BJP headed to a thumping victory in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP workers celebrated across the sprawling state that has a population of 72 million.
They burst fire crackers, beat drums, distributed sweets and waved their party flag, celebrating the poll success.
In the last assembly, the BJP had 143 members and the Congress 71. The voting percentage this time was 70 percent of the total electorate of 46,457,724.
Mr. Chouhan, 53, was first appointed the chief minister in 2005. Before that, the BJP’s Uma Bharati became the chief minister in 2003 and after she quit, Babulal Gaur became the chief minister for a short while.
Madhya Pradesh has achieved high GDP growth in the past few years, shedding the epithet as a BIMARU state. BIMARU (or sickly in Hindi) was an acronym for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, coined for these four north Indian states lagging behind in economic development.
Madhya Pradesh has also seen impressive growth in agriculture under Mr. Chouhan’s stewardship. His schemes for welfare of girl children have been emulated by some other states.
Mr. Chouhan has sought to build an image as a moderate, tolerant leader. He sported a traditional skull cap while greeting Muslims after Eid-ul-Fitr prayers in Bhopal earlier this year, unlike Mr. Modi whose refusal at an event in Gujarat triggered a controversy and national headlines.
The vote count started across 51 districts at 8 a.m. Postal ballots were counted first and half an hour later, the counting of ballots cast through the electronic voting machines (EVMs) began. As many as 2,583 candidates battled it out in the election for which polling took place Nov 25.
Inflicting a crushing defeat on ruling Congress, BJP on Sunday got an absolute majority in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, winning 121 out of 145 seats results for which have been declared so far.
Election officials said that till 1600 hours BJP won 121 seats, Congress 14, Independents 5, while other parties and NPP got 2 each. BSP has won from one seat.
State BJP president and party’s chief ministerial candidate Vasundhara Raje won from Jhalarpatan defeating Congress candidate Meenakshi Chandrawat with a margin of 60,896.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot won Sardarpura seat by defeating his nearest rival Shambhusingh Khetasar of BJP by a margin of 18,478 votes.
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 83 out of the 199 seats which went to polls, while its candidates won in 73 constituencies in the results declared by Sunday afternoon.
State BJP president Vasundhara Raje was declared winner in Jhalrapatan, while Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria registered a decisive victory in Udaipur.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was leading in his home constituency Sardarpura in Jodhpur, even as his government was decimated.
The BJP’s strong return in the State and the defeat of Congress was beyond the expectation of political observers and defied all political calculations. Congress was ahead in 15 constituencies and had won nine seats in the results available by the afternoon.
Prominent among the Congress leaders who were trounced in the polls were Ministers Shanti Dhariwal (Kota North), Hemaram Chaudhary (Gudhamalani), Aimduddin Ahmed Khan (Tijara), Bina Kak (Sumerpur) and Naseem Akhtar Insaaf (Pushkar), while Finance Commission Chairman B. D. Kalla lost the Bikaner seat.
The National People’s Party brought to the State by Dausa MP Kirorilal Meena also depicted a lead in five constituencies, which included Lalsot, where Mr. Meena himself is contesting, and Mahuwa, where her wife and former Minister in the Ashok Gehlot government Golma Devi is the party candidate.
Bahujan Samaj Party was leading at three seats.
With the results in the party’s favour coming in, BJP activists started celebrations at the State headquarters and burst firecrackers. The Pradesh Congress Committee headquarter, on the other hand, wore a forlorn look.
Mr. Gehlot attributed the defeat of Congress to “negative campaign” by BJP and said the ruling party had failed to convince the voters about the development it had carried out in the State. He said Ms. Raje had sought votes in the name of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and tried to create a wave in his favour.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Gehlot said the people had voted on the basis of an undercurrent, which could not be countered. “Our welfare schemes provided real benefits to the people. The BJP could not compare the works in its previous rule with our achievements. It [only] created an incorrect impression among the voters.”
Mr. Gehlot has sought an appointment with Governor Margaret Alva at Raj Bhavan, where he is likely to submit his resignation.
Ms. Raje, who was in Banswara to worship at the historic Tripura Sundari temple, was scheduled to return to Jaipur in the evening.
She thanked the people of the State for giving a decisive mandate in favour of BJP and said Mr. Modi was an “important factor” responsible for the party’s impressive show in the State.
The Congress on Sunday was headed for a humiliating defeat in Delhi, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party. But it was debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that put up a spectacular show in the battle for the 70-member assembly that presides over the fortunes of the capital.
As it became clear that the Congress has been relegated to the third position, it was the fight for the numero uno position between the BJP and AAP. At one time, it looked as though AAP would emerge as the single largest party before the BJP nosed ahead.
The most stunning defeat was of Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit who was trounced by 25,000 votes by AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency.
Conceding defeat, Ms. Dikshit submitted her resignation to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, who dissolved the legislative assembly and forwarded her resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee.
“I would like to thank everyone for their support. We will analyse what went wrong later,” Ms. Dikshit told reporters outside her house while declining to take questions.
She also acknowledged that her party had failed to gauge the popularity of the AAP, saying the party had behaved “foolishly” in misjudging them.
A shaken Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party general secretary Rahul also expressed shock at the results.
“In Delhi, a great deal of work was done (by the government). But the results tell us something else. We will introspect and take steps to rectify it,” Ms. Sonia Gandhi said.
Mr. Kejriwal, who had claimed that he would defeat the three-time chief minister, got 44,269 votes, while Ms. Dikshit received 18,405 votes. BJP’s Vijendra Gupta stood at third position with 17,952 votes.
Result trends at 5 p.m., showed BJP was leading in 33 constituencies, the AAP was ahead in 27 seats and the Congress in 8.
In fact, three Cabinet Ministers are trailing while four have won.
It was however the phenomenal success of AAP, which came into existence as a political party only last year, that surprised both the ruling Congress and the BJP.
After his victory, Mr. Kejriwal said, “This isn’t my victory. It’s a victory of people of New Delhi constituency and victory of democracy.” He was addressing hundreds of his supporters who were waving the “broom” - the election symbol of the party - at the party’s Hanuman Road headquarter in Connaught Place.
The BJP admitted on Sunday that the AAP’s stunning performance in Delhi elections was “surprising” but maintained that it would form a government.
“We always thought of AAP as competition and we were expecting it to get double digit seats, but this is surprising,” BJP State president Vijay Goel told the media.
“We have done all the hard work in Delhi (as an opposition) in the last 15 years but now AAP is reaping the benefits,” he added.
The Congress, which has governed Delhi since 1998 with Ms. Dikshit at its helm, was stunned. Some supporters, who were still hopeful despite trends showing a Congress drubbing held prayers at Ms. Dikshit’s residence for a miracle. Some even brought sweets in the morning, but were shooed away.
Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said, “AAP cut on our votes and caused damage. A lot of votes have gone to AAP, that is why we are losing in Delhi.”
However, he quickly added, “These results have no bearing on the Lok Sabha elections.”
Party sources and election officials said that Congress candidates were headed for defeat even in known party strongholds.
While there was an atmosphere of gloom at Ms. Dikshit’s Moti Lal Nehru residence, it was time for celebrations at BJP chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan’s residence.
Supporters burst firecrackers and distributed sweets outside Mr. Vardhan’s Krishna Nagar residence in east Delhi.
The activists of AAP, a product of the anti-corruption campaign of Anna Hazare, also celebrated noisily outside many counting centres and its party office in Connaught Place.
The party activists, very visible in their white side caps, waved flags, raised slogans across the national capital celebrating the unexpected success.
Many of them waved spiky brooms in the air to express their joy and happiness.
Mr. Anna Hazare, once a mentor of Mr. Kejriwal who fell out with him over the latter’s political ambitions, also praised Mr. Kejriwal.
“Defeating Sheila Ms. Dikshit is not an easy thing. People gave their mandate,” he said.
“I believe that Arvind Kejriwal will do good work in the opposition and will provide right direction to the government,” he told reporters from Ralegan Siddhi, his home town in Maharashtra.
Making an electrifying debut in high-profile Delhi Assembly polls in which it routed Congress, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) on Sunday ruled out taking support of any political party to form the government, saying it will play the role of a “constructive opposition”.
Addressing supporters and media gathered at the party office in central Delhi, an upbeat AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal termed the results of the polls as “historic” where the people have come out and voted for a “clean and honest” political party.
“These are historic results. This is not a victory of Aam Admi Party, it is a victory of the people,” the 45-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician said amid loud cheers by his supporters at the crowded office.
Asked whether he will seek support of Congress to form government, Mr. Kejriwal said, “We will play the role of a constructive opposition and will not seek support from any party to form the government.”
AAP, which was born a year ago following the civil society movement against corruption led by Anna Hazare, made a stunning entry into electoral politics by becoming the main opposition relegating Congress to the third position in the 70-member Assembly.
“The results are a message to established political parties like Congress and BJP to change the way they do their politics. If they do not reform, the people will throw them out,” said Mr. Kejriwal, who served the biggest blow to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by handing down a shocking defeat to her in the New Delhi constituency by a huge margin of 25,864 votes.
The key agenda items of AAP are Jan Lokpal Bill, right to reject, right to recall and political decentralisation.
A former Income Tax official, Mr. Kejriwal came into prominence, especially in Delhi, when Mr. Anna Hazare launched the agitation on the Lokpal issue.
AAP has already declared that it is not a Delhi-centric party.
“After the Delhi polls, you will see us being more active outside Delhi.... We certainly plan to go nationwide for the Lok Sabha polls,” Mr. Kejriwal’s party has said.
“Bewakoof hain na (we are idiots, right?)”, retorted Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday when asked if her party failed to read the mood of the city which it had ruled for 15 years.
Ms. Dikshit, who resigned from the Chief Minister’s post after Congress’ drubbing, said her party will analyse what went wrong in the election.
“We accept our defeat and we will analyse what went wrong,” she told reporters at her residence during a brief appearance after sending her resignation to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.
“We respect what the people of Delhi have decided and thank them for supporting us for last 15 years,” she said.
Her remarks came in the backdrop of her party being routed in the polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a strong debut in the election eating into Congress’ votebank in the city while pushing the ruling party to the third position.
Born following the civil society movement against corruption by Anna Hazare, AAP made a strong dent into Congress’ support base.
Ms. Dikshit, who led Congress to three successive victory since 1998, faced the ignominy of suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi constituency.
As BJP heads towards a third straight victory in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday thanked the people for giving him a fresh mandate and said he would continue to work for their welfare.
He attributed BJP’s expected victory to ordinary party workers and its leaders.
“The people of Madhya Pradesh, the BJP organisation and a large number of party leaders who guided us in the poll campaign deserved thanks for this victory,” he told reporters at his residence in Bhopal as trends emerging from counting of votes showed BJP retaining power in the State comfortably.
Mr. Chouhan specially thanked senior party leaders L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi, Uma Bharti and State BJP President Narendra Singh Tomar.
The 54-year-old said it was only in the BJP that an ordinary worker could rise through the ranks and become a Chief Minister.
Mr. Chouhan said he had tried his best to serve the people after becoming Chief Minister in 2005 and would continue the development and welfare schemes started by his Government.
The Chief Minister claimed the Congress-led ruling coalition at the Centre had been discriminating against his government and it was the need of the hour to have a BJP- headed administration in New Delhi.
Mr. Chouhan expressed confidence that during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Madhya Pradesh would provide the largest chunk of BJP MPs so that his party is able to form Government at the Centre.
BJP General Secretary Anant Kumar, in-charge of Madhya Pradesh affairs, a government under the leadership of Mr. Modi would be formed at the Centre next year.
Thanks Anant Kumar
Mr. Chouhan thanked BJP General Secretary and in-charge of the State, Anant Kumar, for his contribution to the party’s hat-trick in Assembly elections.
“I am thankful to BJP General Secretary In-charge of Madhya Pradesh for his immense contribution in ensuring BJP’s hat-trick in the state,” Mr. Chouhan told reporters.
The Chief Minister specially praised Mr. Kumar, who was stationed in the State capital for almost a fortnight ahead of the polls.
With trends indicating a massive win for BJP in Rajasthan, State party president Vasundhara Raje on Sunday said her party’s PM candidate Narendra Modi was a “huge factor” behind its good show.
“The people of Rajasthan were tired of non-governance of Congress. It is something that follows from Delhi also. Therefore, Narendra Modi is a very big factor because people have seen what he has done in Gujarat,” Ms. Raje said after her party was leading in more than 130 seats.
She said, “Modi has shown that development happens in Gujarat and he has shown that this is a model that can be followed anywhere”.
“The BJP government in most of the states have been able to do this also and that’s what the people of this country want. Therefore, Modi has been a very huge factor. This is also the semi-finals to what is going to happen very shortly,” Ms. Raje said, expressing confidence that the party would form government at the Centre under the leadership of Mr. Modi.
Asked about her priorities, Ms. Raje maintained that it would depend on what the people of her State would want.
“We are going to look forward to doing some good work and bring Rajasthan back on its feat again. We will basically strengthen the people of Rajasthan,” she added.
She said it was because of the people of Rajasthan and also for the hours of sweat by her party workers that she had achieved such a lead.
“I thank the people of Rajasthan… whatever has happened today, I actually give my thanks to the people and dedicate it to them...not only to the people but also to the workers who have sweated for the last ten months for this.
“The victory is dedicated to our party workers who left no stone unturned. Party president Rajnath Singh and our prime ministerial candidate also spared time for campaigning for the party in Rajasthan and I am thankful to them,” she said.
Prateek Pathak
Alumni Student
B.A in Media Studies
University of Allahabad
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