The BJP registered a thumping victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on Sunday.
It registered a comfortable win in Rajasthan, bagging 115 out of 199 seats. In Madhya Pradesh, the party got 163 seats out of 230 and in Chhattisgarh, it won 54 out of 90 seats.
The Rajasthan contest was eventually won by the BJP decisively on Sunday, with almost 50 seats separating it from the Congress, with many expecting it to be much closer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Assembly Elections results ‘very encouraging,’ and attributed the ‘hagr-trick’ to ‘nari shakti, adivasis, kisan, yuva (women representation, tribal community representation, farmers and the youth).
PM Modi said, with an eye on the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, that these Assembly election results have ushered in an atmosphere of positivity and that this ‘hattrick of victories has given the guarantee for 2024 hattrick.’
‘Today is a lesson for those state governments which deliberately keep the people from benefitting from the welfare schemes of the centre,’ the PM added.
The BJP’s win stood out as the party did not project a chief minister face in any of the states.
Rajasthan Assembly Election Result 2023
The BJP decimated the Congress in Rajasthan, with only 4 of the Congress Cabinet’s 17 ministers retaining their seats, including incumbent Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The Congress termed the result ‘surprising.’
‘When there is commitment to people’s welfare, then the word anti-incumbency becomes irrelevant,’ the PM said about the results ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament.
PM Modi says, ‘Today’s mandate has also proven that there is no place for corruption, division and dynasticism in the hearts of the people of the country.’
Mizoram Assembly Election Result 2023: Incumbent CM Zoramthanga set to lose Aizawl East seat
The elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly were largely anticipated to be a three-way contest, with the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) aiming for another term, the Congress hoping to make a comeback after a poor show in 2018, and the much younger Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) emerging as a serious contender.
The ZPM has now secured the majority in the Mizoram assembly on Monday, winning 21 of the 40 seats and leading in six others as votes were being counted, according to the Election Commission (EC) data showed.
Mizoram has 40 assembly seats, with 21 being the majority mark.
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) has won two seats and was leading in eight others, but several of its senior leaders were either trailing or have already lost.
The ZPM’s CM candidate Lalduhoma won the Serchhip seat, defeating MNF’s J Malsawmzuala Vanchhawng by 2,982 votes.
The BJP won a seat, and was leading in another, while the Congress was leading in one seat.
The counting of votes, which began at 8 am, was being held in 13 centres. Postal ballots were counted first, and from 8.30 am, the counting for votes polled in the EVMs began.
Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) is a political alliance of six parties in Mizoram – Mizoram People’s Conference, Zoram Nationalist Party, Zoram Exodus Movement, Zoram Decentralisation Front, Zoram Reformation Front and Mizoram People’s Party. These parties merged into a single entity, which is fighting the opposite ruling MNF in the Mizoram elections 2023.
The party has been founded by MLA and former MP Lalduhoma. Lalduhoma was formerly a member of the Congress party, and was a part of the security service of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023 Results
The BJP won a resounding 163-seat victory as votes were counted for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls on Sunday. The saffron party now holds a two-thirds majority with the Congress garnering a mere 66 seats.
Madhya Pradesh is a state where there has been consistent growth in agriculture over the last two decades, under the long-running stewardship of Shivraj Singh Chouhan who has been at the helm since 2005.
During 2013-14 to 2022-23, MP’s farm sector registered an average annual growth of 6.1 per cent, more than the national average of 3.9 per cent during the period.
Chouhan may well be chief minister again, even as the Congress secured a meagre 66 seats while the Bharat Adivasi Party opened its tally for the first time in MP by winning the Sailana seat.
‘It is a great victory this time. Some people said there is anti-incumbency and some said ‘Kaante Ki Takkar Hai. Na Kaanta Mila Na Takkar (we didn’t get much of a fight)’ Chouhan said after the results.
Assembly Election Results: Top contenders for CM in Chhattisgarh
Congress’s incumbent Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was predicted to return to power for a second term.
Few gave the BJP a chance, but now the party has pulled off an unexpected turnaround from 2018, when it had slumped to 15 seats in the state assembly.
The BJP now has to pick a CM, as former CM Raman Singh was brought back into the fray, only towards the end after the party could not find another candidate with the same pull as Singh.
The Madhya Pradesh elections in particular exposed chasms in the INDIA bloc alliance, as the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) accused the Congress of ‘cheating’ during the nomination process.
The SP had then decided to go solo, but the party failed to win any seat and ended up with its worst-ever vote share, a mere 0.46%, after fielding 72 candidates in the state and party president Akhilesh Yadav himself leading the campaign.
Telangana Assembly Election Results 2023
There was some good news for the grand old party, as the Congress won 64 seats in the 119-member Telangana Assembly, crossing the majority mark of 60.
The K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS which won 39 seats was ousted and the BJP and AIMIM won eight seats each.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) met in Hyderabad today and authorized party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the CLP leader who is to be CM. The CLP passed a unanimous resolution to appoint the CLP leader.
Revanth Reddy’s name is at the forefront of the list, according to Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao.
The Telangana police on Sunday said it has been asked by the state Congress chief A Revanth Reddy to make security arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony on December 4 or 9.
Reddy informed the DGP that several chief ministers, former chief ministers besides senior leaders from Delhi would participate in the swearing-in ceremony and the event will be held at LB stadium.
What did Congress do right in Telangana?
The Congress will now return to the drawing board as the party now has very little footprint in north India, only being at the helm in Himachal Pradesh.
With these losses, the Congress is now staring at a bigger crisis within its organisation and the broader INDIA alliance.
In the south, the BRS has been ruling Telangana since 2014, when the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Identifying Revanth Reddy as a key figure early on, settling intra-party frictions, while building on the Karnataka success were the tentpoles for the Congress strategy in the southern Indian state.
Some experts opine that this was the politics of personality with Reddy as the face, just as the BJP has done in the Centre, that seemed to have work for the Congress in Telangana.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Reddy said that as soon as the party forms its government, they will start implementing the six guarantees and promises made in the manifesto.
‘I thank the people of Telangana who have restored democracy in the state. On December 3, 2009, Srikant Chary had committed suicide for Telangana and today the people of Telangana have spoken through this verdict. We will work for the people who have given us such a victory. I, along with Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bhatti Vikaramarka and all the Congress leaders, worked closely which brought us this victory,’ Reddy said.
Assembly Elections 2023: What the Exit Polls Said
As people voted in Telangana, it brought about the end of a hard-fought election season, for the five states that went to polls this month.
Mizoram and Chhattisgarh were the first states to go to polls in the last round of assembly elections before the all-important Lok Sabha elections next year.
The first phase of the two-phase Chhattisgarh assembly elections coincided with the Mizoram assembly elections on November 7 and the second phase with the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections on November 17. Rajasthan assembly elections were held in a single phase on November 25.
Mizoram Assembly Elections 2023
Mizoram may deliver a big upset as the exit polls have predicted a landslide victory for the regional Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) headed by Lalduhome – a former IPS officer.
India Today-Axis My India has predicted a staggering 28-35 of 40 seats for the ZPM, a massive jump from just eight seats in the 2018 assembly election.
Mizoram has historically seen battles between the Congress and the Mizo National Front (MNF), but ZPM has emerged as a powerful political force in recent times.
In the last election, the MNF had won 26 seats with nearly 38 per cent votes. If these numbers hold on the counting day on Sunday, it would be a massive setback for sitting CM Zoramthanga, who came to power in 2018 after defeating Congress then headed by Lal Thanhawla.
The Congress is projected to slip further and get just 2-4 seats. The BJP, too, may not succeed in expanding its footprint as exit poll numbers suggest seats in the range of 3-7.
While India Today-Axis My India has projected a massive sweep for ZPM, other polls have predicted a hung assembly in the hilly state. ABP News-CVoter has projected 15-21 seats for MNF, while 12-18 for ZPM. Matrize has given 17-22 seats for MNF, 7-12 seats for ZPM, and 7-10 for the Congress. CNX, too, has given an edge for the ruling MNF, with 14-18 seats. It has projected 12-16 seats for ZPM and 8-10 for the grand old party.
Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023
The high-pitch poll campaign saw Congress highlighting the performance of the Ashok Gehlot government while the BJP, on the other hand, attacked the Congress on issues such as crime against women, corruption and paper leaks.
Exit polls indicate a closely contested battle between BJP and Congress in Rajasthan, with many projecting an advantage to BJP, suggesting that historic oscillation would continue in the state.
The India Today-Axis My India show a Congress advantage, providing some balance to the debate.
According to the poll agency Polstrat, the Congress is likely to win between 90-100 seats while the BJP is likely to win 100-110 seats. The majority mark in Rajasthan is 101. Jan Ki Baat said that the BJP will win the elections with 100-122 seats and Congress will be second with 62-85 seats while others are likely to win between 14 and 15 seats.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023
As per the poll of polls, the BJP is likely to cross the majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023 – but by a small margin. The BJP may cross the majority mark by winning 124-125 seats, while the Congress is likely to win 101-102 in the 2023 polls. 115 seats are needed to form a government in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly.
While Jan Ki Baat exit poll predicted that the BJP may get 100-123 seats and the Congress 102-125, Republic TV-Matrize forecast 118-130 seats for the BJP and 97-107 for the Congress.
TV9 Bharatvarsh Polstrat said the BJP would get 106-116 and the Congress would get 111-121.
Today’s Chanakya, however, predicted a massive victory for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, forecasting that the BJP would get 151 (plus minus 12 seats) and the Congress 74 (plus minus 12 seats). The BJP is likely to retain power with 140 to 162 seats, the India Today-Axis My India exit poll showed.
The Congress is likely to win 68 to 90 seats, it predicted.
Jist-TIF-NAI said the Congress was enjoying 2018-like edge in Madhya Pradesh, predicting 107-124 seats for the party as against the BJP’s 102-119.
Chhatisgarh Assembly Elections 2023
In Chhattisgarh it will be a neck-and-neck contest but the Congress party is likely to edge out BJP, exit polls predicted.
The Congress has a distinct edge over the BJP in its bid to retain power in Chhattisgarh, an NDTV poll of polls indicated Thursday evening. The Congress may win 49 seats – just above the majority mark of 46 – while the BJP bag only 38 seats, it showed.
If the Congress and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel do go on and win this election, it will be a big boost for the ruling party ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
The most definitive predictions are from News24-Today’s Chanakya and Times Now-ETG.
The former gave the Congress 57 seats in the 90-member Assembly, where the majority mark is 46, and the BJP 33. Times Now said the Congress will win between 48 and 56 seats, and the BJP 32-40.
Chhattisgarh voted in a single phase on November 7.
Among the rest, Republic TV-Matrize, Dainik Bhaskar and India TV-CNX also indicated a win for the Congress. Republic TV gave the ruling party 44-52 seats, and Dainik Bhaskar and India TV 46-55/6.
Republic TV gave the BJP 34-42 seats. Dainik Bhaskar gave it 35-45 seats and India TV 30-40.
The other exit polls gave the Congress an edge, but suggested it might be short of majority and that the BJP might have a chance. Between them, ABP News-C Voter, India Today-My Axis, and Republic TV-Matrize gave the Congress between 40 and 53 seats, while the BJP got between 34 and 42 seats.
The other two polls – Jan Ki Baat and TV9 Bharatvarsh-Polstrat – also hinted at a Congress win. Jan Ki Baat indicated 42-53 seats and TV9 Bharatvarsh gave it 40-50, while the BJP got between 34 and 45.
Pollsters highlight improvements in key infrastructure, such as drinking water supply, construction of roads, and the quality of state-run hospitals and schools under the Congress government.
According to the India Today-Axis My India poll, the Congress is likely to win between 40 and 50 seats, whereas the BJP is likely to win between 36 and 46 seats.
Telangana Assembly Elections 2023
For Telangana, polls have predicted a setback for Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and an advantage for the Congress. Others predicted a neck-and-neck fight between Congress and the ruling BRS.
As per the India TV- CNX exit poll, the BRS is likely to retain a majority in the state with 70 seats. The Congress is likely to win 34 seats and the BJP 7. Many polls are suggesting however that BRS is likely to lose its reign in Telangana and Congress is predicted to form the next government in the state.
2,290 contestants are in the Telangana elections, including Chief Minister KCR, his minister-son K T Rama Rao, state Congress president A Revanth Reddy and BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind.
BRS has fielded candidates in all 119 seats. As per the seat sharing agreement, BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan-headed Jana Sena are contesting in 111 and 8 seats respectively, while Congress has given one seat to its ally CPI, and fighting from 118 others.
Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has fielded candidates in nine seats in the city.
The state assembly elections are crucial as they are being held just before the general Lok Sabha polls which are scheduled for April-May next year.