In a historic move, Indian mainstream party Congress secured a stronghold in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, ousting ruling party BJP in the Assembly elections said to play a large role in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress formed an absolute majority in Chhattisgarh, whereas in MP, it emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats, and are set to stake a claim to the state’s Governor at noon today to form the government. In Rajasthan, the party could not form a majority since it was short of two seats.
Madhya Pradesh counting concludes, final ECI results – Congress 114, BJP 109, SP-1, BSP-2 and Independents-4 #MadhyaPradeshElections2018 pic.twitter.com/qCoBWyXCt1
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2018
Congress delegation to meet Madhya Pradesh Governor at 12 noon to stake claim to form govt. #AssemblyElectionResults2018 pic.twitter.com/b1IgLj3guN
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2018
The BJP has secured 109 seats in MP, with the main issue remaining of which party’s candidate becoming the Chief Minister of the state.
Telangana gave a landslide victory to TRS-AIMIM, whereas in Mizoram, the the Mizo National Front defeated the Congress.
Following the announcement of the results, in Rajasthan, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Sinha has extended the party’s support to the Congress. Criticising UP CM Yogi Adityanath for his “Bajrangbali and Ali” remark, Sinha told ANI, “I am happy that the public has given a clear mandate in Rajasthan, for a stable Govt, our MLA will extend support to the Congress. BJP ran a negative campaign, UP CM came and talked of Ali and Bajrangbali instead of issues of farmers .”
Ramkesh Meena, Independent candidate who won from Gangapur : Our demand is that Congress leadership takes the decision keeping in mind upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the right decision will be to make Ashok Gehlot the CM. #RajasthanElections2018 pic.twitter.com/AZDuPCPPUl
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2018
Another independent candidate, Ramkesh Meena who from Rajasthan’s Gangapur asked the Congress to make Ashok Gehlot the CM in Rajasthan. “Our demand is that Congress leadership takes the decision keeping in mind upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the right decision will be to make Ashok Gehlot the CM.”
The victory is being considered significant since it marks Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s one year ascension to being President of the party. His party had also projected the results to be a referendum regarding the ruling party.
This is the first time that the Congress has defeated the BJP and won a majority in direct contests since 2014.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
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