Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) –the ruling party of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suffered stinging losses in three of the five states that went to polls in mid-November, exposing his party’s vulnerability less than six months ahead of national elections in 2019.
The results have come as a shot in the arm for the main opposition Congress party that has decisively won in BJP bastions of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and has also emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh with 114 seats.
Conceding the party’s defeat in all three states, Prime Minister Modi wrote on twitter saying “We accept the people’s mandate with humility.”
Tuesday’s bruising defeats have been the most staggering ones for Prime Minister Modi since he swept to power more than four years ago on promises of populist measures and development- key issues that had created a massive wave in his favour.
Political analysts have attributed the losses to Mr Modi’s failure to deliver on his promises particularly to the country’s youth, traders and also farmers.
“Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are predominantly rural states and the agrarian discontent is very evident. Demonetisation also led to this situation since all rural markets and farmers transact in cash,” Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, Associate Professor of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University told the South China Morning Post.
Meanwhile, the results are a huge boost for Modi’s challenger and the Congress party President Rahul Gandhi whose position has been clearly bolstered by the string of victories.
Buoyed by the wins in three key states, Mr Gandhi said, “We have defeated them today and we will do this again in 2019.”
Elections were also conducted in two other states of Mizoram in the northeast and Telangana in the south where regional parties have swept to power.
