The Bharatiya Janata Party landed a thumping victory in four states – Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, and the Aam Aadmi Party swept to power in Punjab as elections in five stated drew to a close on Thursday
The Congress performed poorly in most of the states, especially in Uttar Pradesh where it managed to win only two seats.
Addressing BJP workers in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the party secured victories in a hill state – Uttarakhand, a state that is blessed by river Ganga – Uttar Pradesh, the coastal state of Goa, and a state in North East – Manipur.
“Today, the BJP has received blessings from all four directions,” he said.
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Uttar Pradesh
The BJP won the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election by a huge margin. It bagged 255 seats in the 403-member Assembly.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party won 111 seats. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party managed to get only one seat.
The BJP also received a vote share of 41.3%, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 32.1% and the Bahujan Samaj Party with 12.9%.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath managed a comfortable win in Gorakhpur, securing 1,65,499 votes. Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla trailed behind Adityanath with 61,616 votes. Aazad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad could get only 7,601 votes.
Akhilesh Yadav won from Karhal constituency by securing 60.12% of total votes cast.
The BJP also won all the eight constituencies in the Lakhimpur Kheri district, which had made headlines in October when eight people, including four farmers, were killed during a protest against the Centre’s contentious agriculture laws. Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra has been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy.
Manipur
The BJP crossed the majority mark in Manipur, winning 32 constituencies in the 60-seat Assembly. Its vote share was 37.8%, more than double the National People’s Party, which was second place holder along with the Janata Dal (United), winning six seats.
The National People’s Party had a vote share of 17.3% and the Janata Dal (United) 10.77%.
The Naga Peoples Front and the Congress bagged five seats each.
Manipur Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate N Biren Singh won the Heingang seat by a huge margin of 18,271 votes. Earlier in the day when trends showed that the BJP was leading, he had asserted that his party will form the government with a full majority in the state.
The BJP performed better than than 2017 elections in which it had won only 21 seats. The Congress, then ruling for three terms in Manipur, had emerged as the single largest party in the state, bagging 28 seats.
However, the BJP had formed the government by gaining support of four MLAs belonging each to the National People’s Party and the Naga People’s Front, a lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member.
Goa
The BJP won 20 seats in the Goa Assembly elections, falling just one shot of the majority mark of 21. However, the party’s state unit chief Sadanand S Tanavade has claimed that Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which bagged two seats, and all the three winning Independent candidates have declared support for the BJP, reported PTI.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had formed an alliance with the Trinamool Congress, which failed to win even a single seat.
The Congress emerged victorious in 11 constituencies and its ally Goa Forward Party in one.
The BJP also secured one-third of the vote share, followed by Congress with 23.46%.
Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s in charge of Goa desk, said that party will form a government in the state with a “good” majority of 25.
Goa Chief Minister and BJP leader Pramod Sawant won the Sanquelim constituency by a narrow margin of 666 votes. In Panaji, BJP’s Atanasio Monserrate defeated former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal Parrikar, by 716 votes.
The BJP had snubbed Utpal Parrikar, refusing to give a ticket from Panaji, after which he decided to contest the polls as an Independent candidate.
Similar to Manipur, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in the 2017 elections with 17 seats. However, the BJP had quickly formed alliances and staked claim to form the government before the Congress could.
Uttarakhand
The BJP comfortably crossed the halfway mark in 70-seat Uttarakhand Assembly, securing a win in 47 seats. However, sitting chief minister and BJP candidate Pushkar Singh Dhami lost to Congress’ Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes in the Khatima seat.
The Congress won 19 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party won only two seats and Independent candidates won in two constituencies.
The exit polls had predicted a tough fight between the BJP and the Congress. Although most of them had predicted that the BJP will be ahead, some had tipped the Congress to be the winner.
While there is a huge difference in number of seats won by the two national parties, the disparity between their vote shares was relatively less. Although the BJP had a larger vote share of 44.3%, the Congress secured 37.9% of the votes.
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress candidate Harish Rawat lost in Lalkuwa Assembly constituency by a margin of 17,527 votes to BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht. Rawat took responsibility for the party’s defeat.
“Our campaign strategy was insufficient and I accept it as chairman of the campaign committee. People worked very well and I’d like to thank them,” he said. He added that the results surprised him.
Even though the BJP secured a comfortable victory in the state, it underperformed. In the 2017 polls, the BJP had won 57 constituencies. The Congress had bagged 11 seats, while Independent candidates had won from two constituencies.
Punjab
In Punjab though, the BJP could not manage to land a victory as it did in other states, Rather, it won just two seats in the state Assembly that has 117 constituencies.
The winner, the Aam Aadmi Party, emerged as the juggernaut, winning 92 seats. The incumbent Congress won only in 18 constituencies.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi lost both the Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur seats to Aam Aadmi Party candidates. Voters in the Amritsar East constituency snubbed both high-profile candidates, Congress’ state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, again in favour of Aam Aadmi Party candidate.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also lost Patiala Urban constituency, his family bastion, to Aam Aadmi Party candidate Ajit Pal Singh by a margin of over 13,000 votes.
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal also lost their seats they contested to candidates of Aam Aadmi Party.
In terms of vote share, the Aam Aadmi Party secured 42.01% of the votes, followed by Congress with 22.98% and the BJP with 6.60%.
The Congress also performed quite poorly as compared to the 2017 election, when it had secured a majority by bagging 77 seats. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party’s margin grew by 70.
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