Road to 2024 gets easier for BJP after winning four out of five states

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been successful in the Assembly elections in five states, which were considered to be the semi-final before the 2024 general elections. The road to 2024 has gotten easier for BJP after winning four out of the five states. As for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), now that it has won for the first time a full-fledged state in the form of Punjab, it has its eyes on the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections to be held this very year. It is definitely time for introspection for the Congress because it is now left with only the two states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In Maharashtra, it shares power along with the Shiv Sena and NCP.  

Addressing the BJP workers after the victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Some of the pundits had said after the 2019 election results that there was hardly anything in the 2019 win as it had already been decided in 2017 when the result for UP (Uttar Pradesh) had come in 2017. I believe that these pundits will have the courage to say this time, too, that the 2022 results have decided those for 2024.”

The Prime Minister said, “This is a festival for the democracy of India. The way our mothers, sisters and the youth fully supported the BJP is a very big signal in itself.” He said, “Our workers have hit the winning boundary. Uttar Pradesh has given many prime ministers to the country but this is the first instance of it has re-elected a chief minister after he served a full term of five years.” Speaking about good governance, he said, “We improved the governance delivery system. BJP assures the poor that the facilities provided by the government will certainly reach every poor person.”

One of the significant features of this election was that Mayawati suffered loss in UP to benefit the BJP. During the election campaign, she remained mostly silent and whenever she spoke, it was against the Samajwadi Party (SP). In 125-odd seats, the BSP fielded candidates who belonged to the same caste as the SP candidate. BJP has won 68 of those seats. The SP did not seem to gain much from its alliance with Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) either. Despite the farmers’ movement, BJP was successful in garnering Jat votes in large numbers.

UP: BJP seats reduce, but will form govt

 The BJP has got 255 seats in UP. However, this is 57 seats lower than its tally of 312 in 2017. Its ally Apna Dal (Soneylal) has got 12 seats and Nishad party six. The number of seats for the main opposition SP has gone up from 47 to 111. Its ally RLD has got eight seats and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party six. The BSP has had its worst-ever performance with a win in only one seat. Congress, too, met the same fate and could get only two seats. The Jansatta Dal Loktantrik has got two seats.

If we consider the vote share, the BJP got 41.29 per cent of the votes, SP 32.1 per cent, BSP 12.88 per cent and 2.33 per cent.

Punjab: AAP gets three-fourths majority

The AAP has come up with a record-breaking performance in India. Winning 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly, it has got more than three-fourths majority. Even the Congress and the Akali Dal, the traditional parties of the state, had never had so big a majority. In 2017, the AAP had won 20 seats. Congress has shrunk from 77 seats to 18. The BSP has won one seat, BJP two and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) three. As for the vote share, the AAP got 42 per cent of the votes, Congress 22.98 per cent, BJP 6.6 per cent and BSP 1.77 per cent.

Uttarakhand: BJP gets fewer seats, but majority consecutively

In Uttarakhand, the BJP has succeeded in getting a majority for the second time in succession. Although its seats have reduced in number, the party is in a position to form the government comfortably. With a vote share of 44.33 per cent, it has won 47 seats. The number of seats for the Congress has gone up to 19 and it got 37.91 per cent of the votes. The BSP succeeded in winning two seats. It got 4.82 per cent of the votes. Two of the independents have also won. The AAP could not win any seat but it did get 3.31 per cent of the votes.

Goa: BJP to form govt with support

No party obtained a majority in the 40-seat Goa Assembly, but the BJP did succeed in touching the 20-mark while 21 seats are required for a majority here. The three Independents and the two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs have decided to go with the BJP. According to BJP state election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis, all these five MLAs have given their letter of support to the BJP. As a result of the splitting of votes in the state, the Congress has been reduced to mere 11 seats. The AAP has won two seats, Goa Forward Party (GFP) one and Revolutionary Goans Party one.  

As for vote percentage, the BJP got 33.31 per cent of the votes, Congress 23.46 per cent, AAP 6.77 per cent, Trinamool Congress (TMC) 5.21 per cent and GFP 1.84 per cent. Although the TMC’s vote percentage was only slightly lower than AAP’s, it failed to win even a single seat.

Manipur: Biren Singh returns, Congress down to fourth

The BJP’s achievement in Manipur this time is that it does not need support from anyone to form the government. It has succeeded in winning 32 seats in the 60-seat Assembly. In 2017, it had to form the government here with the help of the National People’s Party (NPP), the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and a few Independents. It had then won only 21 seats while the Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 27 seats. This time, however, the Congress has gone down to the fourth position with a mere five seats. The NPP has six seats and the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) six. Even the NPF has five seats. Apart from this, the first-timer Kuki People’s Alliance has succeeded in winning two seats. Three seats have gone to the Independents.

As for vote percentage, the BJP has got 37.83 per cent of the votes, Congress 16.83 per cent, JD(U) 10.77 per cent, NPP 17.29 per cent and NPF 8.09 per cent.