It is clear. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and appeal has led to the BJP’s victory in the three Hindi heartland states — Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It is significant that the BJP did not project potential chief ministerial candidates in these three states, but had fought the polls on Brand Modi’s guarantee. While state polls are typically led by regional leaders and contested on local issues, the Prime Minister has been the BJP’s star campaigner, criss-crossing the country on helicopter to fill a busy schedule of back-to-back rallies. The BJP has won Madhya Pradesh even after being in power for 20 years, and now Madhya Pradesh is being projected as the next Gujarat model state.
The BJP has sought to turn the state elections into a referendum on Modi, betting that the Prime Minister’s popularity will neutralise challengers and set it on a strong footing to clinch a third term in the general elections due next year. With victories in three big states, the BJP has crushed the confidence of the Opposition which is trying to stitch an alliance. If Modi can win state elections for the BJP, naturally national elections will be an easy win. As things stand, Brand Modi appears unassailable in the Indian political landscape and the curiosity for next year’s Lok Sabha polls may only be limited to the magnitude of BJP’s victory.
For Congress, it was a huge setback. Despite running an aggressive campaign, the party lost in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and with this, the party has also lost its presence in the core Hindi heartland ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and exists only in Himachal Pradesh now. The massive setback has also dented the Congress in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc for bargaining more seats for the Lok Sabha elections. Congress was hopeful of forming its government in Chhattisgarh, where it found no problem in the last five years and there was no anti-incumbency visible or report that came to the party leadership.
The Congress was hopeful of returning to power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and was also hopeful to wrest power from the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. But the results have gone completely different from what was expected. The only good news for the Congress was from the southern state of Telangana where it won with a resounding victory. Now with complete sweep in the Hindi heartland, the road ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha election will not be easy. The INDIA bloc seat sharing talks, which were paused in view of the Assembly polls, will have its bearing on the same as it will not be in position for doing hard bargain from other parties citing no or very small presence in the Hindi heartland or North Indian states.
