As the year inches to a close, the Congress made a strong finish in state elections sweeping BJP off of its strong-holds. Capturing Chhattisgarh, gradually winning Rajasthan and holding as slim lead on the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, the Indian National Congress is currently on a high. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who took over as president of the party last year, said it was “time for change”, and credited his party workers for the result. He promised “strong governments” in the states that his party set to win. MP and Chhattisgarh have been ruled for the last 14 years by the BJP and Rajasthan for the last five.
Speaking at a press conference, Gandhi said, “This is a clear message to the Prime Minister and the BJP that the country is not happy with what they are doing... The BJP has a certain ideology and we will fight against it. We have won this elections, we will also win in 2019.” He added, “However, we do not want to get rid of anyone.” Votes were counted in five states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram. The multi-state elections were counted as the semi-final before next year's Lok Sabha polls. Telangana pulled back K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) and Congress lost its last bastion in the north east in Mizoram, as the Mizo National Front took over.
The Congress continued with tease with a majority mark of 100 seats, almost 12 hours after counting began. The party has an offer of support from the Rashtriya Lok Dal. A party or alliance needs 100 seats to win in the 200-member Rajasthan, and voting was held in 199 seats as a candidate in one constituency died. Congress scored the target seats, with BJP lagging with 73 seats. Madhya Pradesh was the closest contest for most part of the day, with the Congress leading in 111 seats, and the BJP in 110. The Congress had reached out to Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the GGP to request support if it fails to make the majority. A party needs to win 116 seats in the state's 230-member assembly to form a government.
Chhattisgarh was swept cleanly by the Congress, leading in 68 of the state's 90 seats, a two-thirds majority and a gain of 29 seats from last time. In the country's youngest state, Telangana, Rao established his supremacy as his TRS lead in a whopping 87 seats, way past the 60 it needed for a majority in the 119 member assembly. KCR faced a united challenge from the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Left that have formed a ‘mahakootami’ (grand alliance) to unseat the TRS. The BJP fought separately and is now leading only in one seat.
In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front (MNF) will return to power after a gap of 10 years by defeating the Congress with a lead of 26 seats. chief minister Lal Thanhawla of the Congress lost both the seats he contested.
