Bucking anti-incumbency, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana to retain power and halt Congress' comeback attempt in the assembly elections, results of which were announced on Tuesday.
The BJP's vote share in Cuttack went up from 9 per cent in 2009 to 38 per cent in 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
Babaria said he offered his resignation to the high command soon after the result of the Haryana assembly polls came out last week but no decision has been communicated to him over the matter.
The Congress top brass headed by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge held a review meeting on Thursday on the party's shock defeat in the Haryana assembly polls and discussed the possible reasons for the 'unexpected' results.
An analysis of the affidavits of all the 90 winning candidates by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Haryana Election Watch show a slight rise in the number of crorepati MLAs, from 93 percent in 2019 to 96 percent this time.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to retain Haryana, the Congress' poll campaign, which was built around various issues including unemployment, farmers' plight and Agnipath scheme, appeared to have failed to click with a majority of the voters.
Congress leaders were seen giving media bytes at various places at the headquarters, arguing that the trends would change by 1 PM but it did not happen.
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi talks to Satyavrat Mishra about the prospects of the party in Bihar. Modi says only the assembly elections or general elections are the true barometers of popularity. Edited excerpts:
The Congress continued its losing spree on Saturday posting its worst-ever show in Maharashtra and ending up a distant junior partner to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, further diminishing its role in the opposition bloc as other allies perform better.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's Sirsa candidate Rohtash Jangra on Monday said he has withdrawn his nomination and hinted that the party may back sitting MLA Gopal Kanda, who has been supporting the state government.
Hours after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put out its first list of 67 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, sitting MLA Lakshman Dass Napa quit the party while former minister Karan Dev Kamboj stepped down as state unit's OBC Morcha chief after being denied tickets.
Haryana is now in the same bracket as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where the BJP is the centre-point of politics.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed ally Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's MP Sanjay Raut for his remarks on Haryana poll outcome, stressing that accusations against Congress won't be tolerated.
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance which managed only 24 seats.
Sources said the leaders during the meeting discussed the possible reasons for the "unexpected" results in Haryana and decided to set up the team to ascertain the reasons behind such results and also look into complaints of "discrepancies" in EVMs, as alleged by party candidates.
Months before the Haryana assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party replaced its strongman Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister with low-profile OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini, a decision that surprised many.
'...to think apna time aa gaya after the 2024 election.'
'The tide started to turn against the BJD when V K Pandian toured the districts gathering people's grievances last year.'
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
Advani said that his party had converted the unipolar polity of India into bi-polar politics and the BJP will be able to overcome the anti-incumbency factor in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. "The anti-incumbency factor is usually against a Member of Parliament or a Member of Legislative Assembly," said Advani.
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
A blame game began in the Congress on Tuesday as it failed in its bid to come back to power in Haryana after 10 years, with senior party leader Kumari Selja saying the party high command should assess all reasons that led to the disappointing result and identify the people responsible.
RSS ideologue Ram Madhav speaks on the BJP and why the RSS can't be blamed for its poor showing in the UP elections.
Despite the towering image of BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with the party's extensive grassroots network and welfare programmes, the perceived inaccessibility of its leaders contributed to the growing anti-incumbency sentiments.
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
What may work for the BJP is the growing resentment against V K Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who Jay Panda alleges has hijacked the Odisha government.
Veteran party leader Anil Vij will seek re-election from his Ambala Cantt stronghold.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The wife will not only abuse her husband for giving her less money, but also abuse the government.' 'Look at the price of a cooking gas cylinder, it is Rs 1,200.'
'Once elected, you have to act like people's representative for the full five years or else people show you your place.'
Since it was formed 58 years ago, Haryana has had Jat chief ministers for 33 of those.
Congress sitting MLA Saleh Mohammad, is hoping to buck the trend of anti-incumbency in the seat, and believes people will vote for his development work and not along religious lines.
