BJP Halted

The results of all the five State Assembly polls are out. A bird's eye view of the results shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) has failed to make headway. In West Bengal, in an all-out effort to seize power by dislodging the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress government, the BJP failed miserably. It could bag only 77 seats against the TMC's 213 in a House of 294. By-polls to three seats are to be held soon. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was defeated at Nandigram, but the poll outcome here is mired in controversy and the result may be challenged in court. Banerjee was first declared elected by the Election Commission. Much to the surprise of all the same Election Commission declared her opponent winner a few hours later. The Bengal Assembly result was a huge setback for the saffron party. It denoted the outright rejection by the Bengal electorate of the BJP's politics of communalism and Hindutva.

The alliance of the CPI-M, Congress and the Indian Secular Front led by a Muslim cleric, Abbas Sidiqui, failed to win a single seat. For the first time since Independence, there will be no Congress or Communist member in the House. The CPI-M's wrong political understanding that Mamata is a bigger enemy than the BJP, led to its undoing. Many Left supporters and sympathisers voted for the TMC to deny BJP a victory.

In the south, the LDF led by the CPI-M was returned to power again, breaking the jinx of the LDF and the UDF alternately. The LDF bagged 99 seats, eight more than last time. The Congress-led UDF won 41 seats, six less than last time. The BJP failed to win a single seat despite all the communal sentiments it roused to fever pitch during the Sabarimala temple entry movement. Communal propaganda has failed to make a dent in this Left bastion. Pinarayi Vijayan continues to be the Chief Minister

In Tamil Nadu the indications were that power will change hands this time and that is what actually happened. The DMK winning 133 seats wrested power from the AIADMK which was reduced from 136 seats to 66. The party's ally BJP won six seats. M K Stalin has already been sworn in as the new Chief Minister.

In Assam, the BJP retained power - just. In a House of 126, the BJP won 60 seats and its allies AGP 9 and the United People's Party Liberal 6, making a total of 75. The Congress won 29 seats and its ally the UDF 16. Paradoxically, the BJP got less votes but more seats while the Congress polled more votes but won less seats. After the death of the former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the Assam Congress is practically leaderless. Assam watchers believe if there were a Congress leader with a popular image and mass appeal, the BJP could have been roundly defeated.

In Puducherry, the AINRC (10 seats) and BJP (6 seats) alliance could just make a majority in a House of 30. The Congress and the DMK won two and six seats respectively. Others got the remaining six seats.               

[contributed]

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Vol. 53, No. 47-52, & Vol 54, No. 1 - 4, May 23 - July 31, 2021