Setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP swept Hindi heartland states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a major blow to the Congress and the opposition's INDIA bloc.
Battling the BJP onslaught, the Congress lost in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, but had some consolation when it ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana to make it 3-1 for the BJP in the polls, seen as a semi-final before next year's general elections.
As the BJP leadership savoured the triple victory just months after losing its lone southern citadel Karnataka to the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said some people are already saying that the party's hat-trick in the states is a guarantee of hat-trick in the Lok Sabha polls.
Madhya Pradesh
Ruling MP for 18 years, a well-entrenched BJP managed to stave off anti-incumbency in a shot in the arm for four-time chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and dashing the hopes of a resurgent Congress helmed by veteran and former CM Kamal Nath. Winning 163 seats, the BJP got two-thirds majority in a House of 230. Congress bagged 66 seats.
Chhattisgarh
The Chhattisgarh outcome was a surprise for many Congress leaders who were hoping for another stint in power in the state by fending off the BJP challenge. The BJP won 54 seats, while the Congress won 35 seats in the 90-member House. Free food grain, income assistance for farmers, housing for all, 100 per cent electrification of villages, and tap water to every home, were listed by the BJP as some of Modi's guarantees in Chhattisgarh.
Rajasthan
With BJP dislodging the Congress hit by factionalism in Rajasthan, the desert state stuck to a nearly 30-year-old tradition of not voting an incumbent party back to power. The BJP got a majority bagging 115 seats after voting was held for 199 constituencies. The Congress notched 69 seats.
Telangana
In Telangana, the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led BRS hoped for a hat-trick but was dethroned by the Congress. Anumula Revanth Reddy, a Lok Sabha MP who led the Congress' charge, could be the second chief minister of the state where the Congress won 64 seats in the 119-member House and the BRS 39 seats. The BJP won 8 seats, up from one seat, and doubled its vote share from the 2018 polls to nearly 14 per cent.
Mizoram
Counting of votes in Mizoram was taken up on Monday. Going by latest trends, the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) appeared all set to form the next government in the distant NE state as the party swept the elections bagging 27 seats in the 40-member House, crushing the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF).
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Assembly results have proved that the days of appeasement and caste politics are over and that 'new India' votes on politics of performance, while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will overcome temporary setbacks and prepare fully for the Lok Sabha polls along with its partners in the INDIA alliance.
The five states together have 84 Lok Sabha seats - MP 29, Chhattisgarh 11, Rajasthan 25, Telangana 17 and Mizoram 02 - and can play a significant role in shaping the electoral fortune of any political party.