Congress Emerges Single Largest Party While AAP Draws a Blank in Goa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party clinched a landslide victory in India’s most populous state of 220 million people, the Electoral Commission said on its website on Saturday.

Most polls say the party will either get a clear majority in the 403-seat state assembly or will be close to the halfway mark. If BJP’s allies, which include parties like the Shiv Sena and Telugu Desam Party, are taken into account, the count goes up to 79, well short of the majority of 126.

While the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 40-member house winning 17 seats, the BJP was second with 13 seats.

The biggest change was the fact that unlike in 2014, when Uttar Pradesh was an essential but a part of the national jigsaw, in 2017, the fight was to win the state and Modi wasn’t available as the Chief Ministerial candidate. With Congress taking an early lead and BJP on its tail, Goa might be looking at a hung Assembly.

Completely sidelined this time by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who edged him out as President of the SP, Mulayam had addressed some 100 rallies in the 2012 assembly polls.

Though the OBCs make up 39 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, the biggest chunk of that is made up of the Yadavs who act as the captive vote bank of the Samajwadi party.

It was a clean sweep for the BJP in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf.

Giving a slightly more conservative estimate, CNN-IBN Gramener Exit Poll claims that the BJP will get 193 seats, putting it at striking distance of achieving the majority of 202. Now all parties opposed to the BJP will have to form a “mahagathbandan” (grand alliance).

According to Shailesh Kumar of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, the Uttar Pradesh result was a referendum on Modi. The party fielded and brought back to power a number of “senior” leaders, among them former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane (who will touch a half century in the Goa house sometime later this term), Faleiro (who returns to state politics from his AICC venture), former chief ministers Ravi Naik and Digambar Kamat, and another old hand Isidore Fernandes, not to mention Churchill Alemao of the NCP. In Uttar Pradesh, ruling SP lost to BJP, while in Punjab, Akali Dal lost to Congress. Those gaining included the Congress (from 3 to 5), Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (2 seats) and independents (2 seats). The decision resulted in hardship as a result of a cash crunch across the board.

The SP-Cong combine, meanwhile, will bag 133 seats and BSP 67. The INC is set to win with 64 seats secured.

Today’s Chanakya has predicted the highest victory margin for BJP, giving it 285, which is even more than the party’s target of 265-plus seats.

Congress candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu has won the Amritsar East seat, defeating nearest rival BJP candidate Rajesh Kumar Honey by 42,809 votes.

As for the competitors, BSP chief refused to accept that BJP’s win was legal and blamed the EVM machines. Rights activist Irom Sharmila, making her poll debut and taking on Singh, was relegated to the fourth position.