India’s assembly polls: BJP consolidating power with spectacular win

Breaking a 37-year-old jinx, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party -- led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- was today poised to storm back to power for a second successive tenure in the most populous and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.

Arivind Kejriwal-helmed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is on its way to script history, becoming the first regional party from outside to win power in Punjab, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Sonia Gandhi-led Congress was voted out of power in Punjab by AAP reinforcing that India's oldest party is at its lowest point since independence.

For Congress, its position as a glue of an anti-BJP coalition will be further questioned and critics of the Gandhi clan within the party will be emboldened, analysts say.

AAP becomes the first regional party to hold power in two states -- Delhi and Punjab -- giving a big boost to the party and Kejriwal's hopes of becoming a key player in India's national politics.

By contrast, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's national aspirations took a body blow today as her party put up a flop show in the coastal state of Goa where it appears set to fail to win a single seat in the 40-member legislative assembly there. This came after TMC's virtual wipe-out in Tripura's civic body polls last year.

With the counting of votes in assembly elections in UP, Punjab and three other smaller states Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand nearing completion, it is now crystal clear that the BJP is going to retain power in four of the five states.

The spectacular win for BJP in UP and three other states signals consolidation of its power and ideological hold in Indian politics and will be seen as a referendum on Modi's popularity ahead of the next general election in 2024.

For Congress, the loss of power in Punjab, one of the major states where Congress was in power, means its pan-India footprints have shrunk further. It is now left in power on its own in just two heartland states Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, adding to its continued nightmare.

Congress also could not manage a comeback in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur where the BJP took comfortable leads despite exit poll predictions of close fights. In Uttar Pradesh, Congress was set to end up a distant fourth.

Wracked by infighting, the Congress has itself to blame for the debacle in Punjab as it replaced its Chief Minister Amarinder Singh just four months before the assembly elections.

Saffron-robed Adityanath, whom many consider Modi's heir apparent as PM, is set to become the first Chief Minister of UP to return to power with a decisive mandate after serving a full five-year term as BJP overcame anti-incumbency and a spirited challenge from Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

No party has come back to form government in UP for a second consecutive term since 1985. When Adityanath was plucked out of almost nowhere and made chief minister in 2017, many were stunned. But the just-concluded elections proved he is no push-over and emerged as a mass leader of BJP in UP.

However, Samajwadi Party has this time vastly improved its performance over 2017 with a double-digit positive vote swing and BJP and its allies have also improved by a couple of percentage points.

The results of the 2022 assembly elections in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur have led to further marginalisation of Congress in India's electoral politics.

Like Congress, Mayawati's BSP saw a significant erosion of its vote share in UP and the two parties are likely to end up with not more than half a dozen legislators.

Elections for the 403 seats of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, spread over 75 districts, were held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. More than 3.75 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

Having lost the elections in the five states, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted "We accept the people's verdict" and the party will learn from these election results.

"Humbly accept the people's verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India," he wrote on Twitter.