Massive blow for Rahul Gandhi? BJP sweeps Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, shocks Congress in Chhattisgarh

The Congress has suffered a massive blow in the Hindi heartland as the party is set to lose all three states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh - it won in 2018. In the last assembly election, the Congress had formed governments in all three states, but it lost Madhya Pradesh after some leaders defected to the BJP.  

As of now, the BJP is ahead in all three states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. While the saffron party was expected to do better in Rajasthan where no party has repeated the government, it was thought to be in a difficult spot in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Also read: Election Result 2023 Live: BJP marches ahead in MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan; Vasundhara Raje leads in Jhalrapatan

Till a few months ago, almost every poll predicted a comfortable victory for Congress in Chhattisgarh and a better chance of coming back to power in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of former chief minister Kamal Nath. However, the BJP is heading for a landslide in Madhya Pradesh with a lead on 156 of 230 seats despite being in power for over 20 years - a massive feat for the ruling party.

What will shock the Congress more is the result of Chhattisgarh, where the saffron party is leading on 50-plus of 90 seats. The BJP ruled in Chhattisgarh for 15 years before it lost the state to Congress in 2018. But to lose the state in just five years would be a major blow for not only Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel but also for former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi had picked Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh and Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath had delivered Madhya Pradesh for Congress in 2018 but his rift with then-party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia and poor crisis management from the top leadership resulted in the collapse of the state government. Scindia, who was once a lieutenant of Rahul Gandhi, is instrumental in winning Madhya Pradesh for the BJP for the fifth term. Congress lost Scindia in March 2020 and lost Madhya Pradesh again in 2023.

A similar story played out in Chhattisgarh, where infighting and power tussle between Baghel and TS Singh Deo may have cost Congress. Deo was another strong contender for the chief minister post in 2018, but Gandhi went ahead with Baghel. To pacify a disgruntled Deo, the grand old party handed the deputy CM post to him just months before the polls.

Rajasthan, too, was a headache for the top Congress leadership, where Ashok Gehlot was in constant fight with Sachin Pilot. Here, the saffron is leading on 113 of 199 seats, while Congress has fallen below 70-mark.

If current leads hold, the saffron party will form governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh. This will be a massive boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the mega finale in 2024. All three states - Chattisgarh (11), Rajasthan (25), and Madhya Pradesh (29) - together have 65 Lok Sabha seats. 

If this was the semi-final ahead of the general elections, one can safely say the BJP would be comfortably placed for a historic third term for PM Modi. This shock defeat will weaken Congress in not only the Hindi heartland but also in the INDIA alliance, which has yet to work out a seat-sharing exercise.  

Also read: Rajasthan Election Result 2023: BJP crosses halfway mark in a big setback to Ashok Gehlot-led Congress

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