NEW DELHI: In what was billed as the semifinal to the 2024 bout, the BJP scored a resounding victory in three out of four states where votes were counted on Sunday. That they were big Hindi heartland states added to the quality of the triumph.
Beating anti-incumbency, the party retained power in Madhya Pradesh for the fifth consecutive time while wresting power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In all three states, the BJP was locked in a straight fight with the Congress, giving it the lift ahead of the Lok Sabha battle.
Telangana was the outlier as it gave the Congress a thumping mandate, refusing to accord the Bharat Rashtra Samithi a third consecutive shot at power. The Congress was widely expected to retain Chhattisgarh but it inexplicably faltered.
ALSO READ | This hat-trick of victories a guarantee for ’24: Modi
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP managed to hold on to power. Its welfare schemes like the CM's Ladli Behna Yojana for women empowerment was a big draw. Yet, the party didn't project Shivraj Singh Chouhan as its face, seeking votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead. Modi, too, sought votes for himself in all four states, a strategy to overcome voter fatigue. Of course, the BJP electoral machine's booth management skills, astute ticket distribution and the over confidence of the Congress swung the popular mood in its favour in Madhya Pradesh. The Opposition’s guarantees like reviving the old pension scheme, caste census and other freebies couldn’t score over Modi’s guarantee of ushering in a Vikshit Bharat (developed India) in all the three states. Announcing the extension of the free ration scheme to 80 crore poor people for five years after the model code of conduct had kicked in, the annual Rs 6,000 dole to farmers and the passage of the women’s reservation bill in Parliament drew women to polling booths in droves.
The BJP won two-thirds majority in MP and comfortable simple majorities in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh (see chart). Raids by Central law enforcement agencies against Opposition leaders, accusing them of corruption, smeared their image and acted as a force multiplier for the BJP in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. But Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has only himself to blame for his nasty power struggle with Sachin Pilot. In any case, voters in the state prefer alternating power between the Congress and the BJP in the bipolar contest.
ALSO READ | How hubris dashed KCR hopes of a hat-trick in Telangana
Terming the BJP’s hat-trick in the state elections as a guarantee for the party’s hat-trick in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Modi said the results convey a warning to corrupt parties. "The results show popular support for our battle against corruption," he said.
