Rahul Gandhi to Narendra Modi: Congratulations. PM’s reply: Thank you

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party on Saturday looked set for sweeping wins in assembly elections in two major Indian states, bolstering his power base for national elections in 2019. The SP general secretary alleged on Friday that exit polls were influenced to forecast a favourable result for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh polls and expressed confidence that the SP-Congress alliance would emerge victorious. Of course, as prime minister, Modi hasn’t quite lived up to his campaign. BJP president Amit Shah, who crafted and conducted the election strategy in UP, credited Modi and his policies for the victory. But Punjab was more a victory of Captain Amarinder Singh and his campaign manager, Prashant Kishor.

BJP never declared a chief minister candidate for the state and the only face people of BJP banked upon was the face of none other than the Prime Minister of India. That party, by contrast, bagged just five seats in Uttar Pradesh. “There was lot of criticism on ticket distribution despite the fact that it was a strategic decision taken carefully following ground assessment”, a senior RSS leader said.

“The BJP will form governments in four of the five States”.

The likes of PV Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Keshri were in charge for a few years before Rajiv’s widow Sonia came and took up the baton and has led them in elections since the late 1990s. The total number of seats in Manipur assembly is 60.

The UP results have, in effect, put Modi’s opponents in disarray and there is very little time now for them to recover.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress held their respective election result-related review meetings on Wednesday, as the state assembly poll result scheduled to be announced on March 11. Hand in hand with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul campaigned across the length and breadth of the state. Ameeta Singh (Cong), the current wife of Sanjay Sinh, was also trailing.

“I am overjoyed that the BJP has received unprecedented support from all sections of society”. “The central government schemes have benefitted everyone”. Though BJP was criticised for not fielding any Muslim candidate, what could have possibly worked in favour of the saffron party is its stand on Triple Talaq issue in Supreme Court where it stated that it violates fundamental rights of Muslim women.

Even if the BJP fail to win, it will undoubtedly improve on its previous showing which could have significant implications for the make-up of the Rajya Sabha – the upper house of parliament. BJP was in fourth position with three seats.

What implications does the BJP’s victory in UP have on the next general election?

However, the Congress party is leading in Punjab and Manipur states. Punjab is the only state for which various exit polls have unanimously predicted a BJP-Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) loss.

But the nature of electoral competition in states changed after the emergence of regional parties in states which coincided with a simultaneous decline of Congress party dominance. The Congress legislature party will meet tomorrow to elect its leader, he said.

India TV: Congress (17-23), BJP (25-31), Others (9-15). CVoter predicts AAP winning between 59 and 67 seats in the 117-strong Assembly.

SAD-BJP is predicted to have lost big in the Manjha region too. Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat (Congress) won from Margao constituency. In 2012, the Congress won 46 seats.