BJP wins MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan but no break for its election machine

With the Bharatiya Janata Party set to win the Assembly elections in three Hindi-speaking states—with a landslide in Madhya Pradesh and comfortably in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan—the Congress will have to do some soul-searching. It is, however, doubtful if it would do that, for there have numerous defeats in the last decade, including two in the general elections, but the grand old party continues to deceive itself that it can take on the saffron party with the anachronistic Gandhi family at helm and the rickety organizational structure.

The GOP’s success in Telangana, where it defeated the K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS hands down, is the only consolation that it got today. The biggest and more unpleasant surprise was in Madhya Pradesh where the Congress was so confident and arrogant that it started behaving like it had already emerged victorious at the expense of the BJP.

Last month, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath brusquely rejected Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav’s allegations that the Congress betrayed INDIA bloc allies. “Are bhai chhodo Akhilesh Vakhilesh,” said. It was like saying, ‘Who is this Akhilesh?’

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate tried to downplay the tiff, saying “I feel small tussles often happen during ticket distribution and it is very obvious. They [Samajwadi Party] are a part of INDIA alliance and will try our best to convince them.” Her party colleague Alok Rai, however, said that the SP was “directly or indirectly” helping the BJP.

Evidently, arrogance, among other factors, hurt the GOP; the BJP was the beneficiary.

MP and Rajasthan were difficult for the BJP, but Chhattisgarh was a hopeless case. A BJP leader told me in a private conversation a few months ago that his party didn’t have any change in Chhattisgarh. What helped the saffron party in the state was the Congress’ complacency.

It would, however, be premature to say that the BJP’s excellent performance in the three heartland states is a precursor to the party’s third consecutive victory in the general elections next year. Results in the three Hindi states are no indication of the national mood. The Congress won the three states in 2018, but lost miserably in the 2019 general polls. Similarly, the BJP won in the three states in 2003, to lose the national election in 2004.

Unlike the Congress, however, the BJP doesn’t let itself slip into complacency. It will not sit on its laurels; it will begin—that is, if they ever paused—in their 2024 election preparations. Such is the saffron party’s election machine. The machine never stops.