From 2 seats to 283, a 30-year historic journey for BJP

New Delhi, May 16
It has been a rollercoaster ride for BJP in the last 30 years with the saffron party in pole position on Friday after having a measly two seats in 1984.

In stark contrast, the fortunes reversed for the ruling Congress in an unprecedented way as it saw the party’s kitty dwindle from a record 415 during this period with results and trends indicating it may not get more than 50 seats.

The victory for the BJP in the saffron surge is also significant because India has not had a single party rule for 25 long years since 1989 during which coalition or minority governments have been in power.

A Narendra Modi wave has catapulted the BJP to power after 10 long years in the opposition with its tally set to more than double from 117 in an election which saw the BJP prime ministerial candidate secure a huge mandate.

This is for the second time in Independent India that an Opposition party has come to power in such a manner, the earlier being the 1977 election that was held after the infamous Emergency era that brought the Janata Party to power.

The BJP will be coming to power for the fourth time since it was founded in 1980 after the split in the Janata Party. Its first government in 1996 lasted for a merely 13 days and was dubbed 13-day wonder by the Congress.

In 1998, the next government of the BJP via the NDA route lasted 13 months while in 1999 it again came to power leading the NDA in the backdrop of the Kargil conflict with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee projecting it as a victory over Pakistan. The largest number of 182 seats was won by BJP in this election.

In fact, the BJP suffered its worst defeat in 1984 after the formation of the party. It could win only two seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the wake of the sympathy wave for the Congress following assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Even Vajpayee was among several top opposition leaders who had lost in the election in which the BJP had secured one seat each from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat respectively. For the Congress, it is the lowest tally, which is less than the lowest ever of 114 in 1999.

Incidentally, both the record lows have come under the stewardship of Sonia Gandhi who has the distinction of being the longest serving president of the Grand Old Party.

Sonia has been at the helm of the Congress since 1998 after the party ousted Sitaram Kesari from the top post in the wake of the party losing the Lok Sabha election that year.

The results have come as a rude jolt for the Congress given the fact that it had been in power for 10 long years via the coalition route. Sonia started the first experiment of Congress sharing power at the Centre in May 2004 after remaining in political wilderness for eight long years.

While Narasimha Rao came to power in 1991 in the wake of assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, he ran a minority government for some time. Manmohan Singh, who was brought by Rao as his Finance Minister, ushered in the economic reforms that changed the face of India.

Incidentally, Modi, chief minister of Gujarat since 2001, used the development plank to the hilt by projecting the Gujarat Model that appeared to have struck a chord with people hit hard by rising prices and corruption and growing joblessness in the backdrop of a global slowdown.

Modi’s detractors raked up the 2002 Gujarat riots repeatedly accusing him of “zehar ki kheti” and polarisation of voters.

The election was also significant as the Left parties, fighting with their back to the wall, are set to register their lowest tally. — PTI

Past and the present

India has not had a single party rule since 1989. An Oppn party comes to power in such a manner for the second time, the earlier being the 1977 elections in the wake of Emergency

BJP’s roller-coaster ride

• Vajpayee

  LK Advani

  BJP comes to power for the 4th time since its foundation in 1980 after the split in the Janata Party. Its first govt in 1996 lasted 13 days
• In 1998, the next BJP govt via NDA route lasted 13 months. In 1999, it again came to power leading NDA in the backdrop of Kargil war
• BJP won the largest number of 182 seats in 1999
• Party had its worst defeat in 1984 after its formation. It won only two seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination
• Vajpayee was among several top opposition leaders who lost in 1984.

Lows for Cong

• It is the lowest tally for Cong, less than 114 in 1999
• Both the record lows came under Sonia's stewardship. She is the longest serving president of the grand old party
• Gandhi is at the helm of the Congress since 1998 after the party ousted Sitaram Kesari from the top post
• She started the first experiment of sharing power at the Centre in May 2004 after remaining in political wilderness for 8 years

Rajnath credits Modi for landslide win
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 16
Around 3 pm, even before most of the results had been officially announced, the BJP top brass addressed a press conference in Delhi to thank their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for leading the party to a “spectacular and historic victory”.

Flanked by Modi’s key aide Amit Shah, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ananth Kumar, JP Nadda and Venkaiah Naidu, party president Rajnath Singh talked of responsibilities that the huge mandate had brought for the party.

“Geographical and social boundaries have been transcended. It is a beginning of a new ear,” Singh said, invoking former Prime Minister Atal Behari Varjpayee’s quote “andhera chatega, suraj niklega aur kamal khilega” (Dark clouds will part, sun will shine and lotus will bloom).

He invited all likeminded political parties to join the NDA in its new journey. Though the kind of a mandate the BJP has received it needs no outside help. Modi’s position will be unchallenged both within the party and from outside, giving him a free hand to run the government-the way he wants.

He also struck down as speculations reports of “unhappiness among senior leaders” — LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj on issues related to their role in the Modi government. “No one is sulking. Such reports (in newspapers) bring me personal pain and agony,” Singh insisted. The Parliamentary Board meeting tomorrow will decide on all the issues, he insisted. Modi will be in Delhi tomorrow for the meeting.

The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on May 21 in Delhi.

Top leaders missing from the media conference at the party office, where celebrations had erupted early in the day, included Advani and senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.

Advani who congratulated Modi on the party’s historic victory on phone, had visited the party headquarters to be part of the celebrations while Swaraj was in Bhopal.

Notably both Advani and Swaraj attributed the BJP’s historic win, first to the party and RSS and then to Modi.

Advani and Swaraj are among the BJP leaders perceived not close to Modi. The other leader who was missing in the joyous action in the party headquarters was Jaitley.

He had a reason. Strangely enough, the man unofficially designated as BJP’s “number two”, a position also enjoyed by party president Rajnath Singh, had missed the “Modi wave” –or a “Modi Tsunami” as the BJP upgraded it today.

Jaitley surfaced later to say that he did not regret contesting his very first elections from Amritsar.

He said he held no one responsible for the defeat. However, sources say the fact that Jaitley was the only BJP candidate to loose in Punjab may have bearing when the Akalis and the BJP contest the state elections the next time.

Jaitley had the choice of fighting from New Delhi, Kurukshetra and Jaipur-all the three seats the BJP won today. He was “virtually invited” by the Akali Dal to contest from Amritsar-a seat held by Navjot Sidhu whom they wanted to oust. Though Jaitley may still find a berth, the loss may have a bearing on his standing in the party. Having avoided the defeat, Sidhu may in fact be a much relieved man.

Process for change of guard may begin today
Tribune News Service

Unlike all the elections since 1989, when hung Parliaments were the norm, the NDA - a pre-poll alliance -- has a clear mandate. So there will be no backroom dealings and horse-trading with Independents and regional parties to decide the formation.

No role in ministry formation: RSS
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

It also wants that the BJP to keep organisation in shape to avoid a situation like 2004 when despite being in government the party failed to make a comeback.

BJP’s Muslim candidates miss ‘Modi wave’
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 16
The BJP had fielded seven Muslim candidates in these elections and all of them have lost.

The biggest loss came from Bihar where the party’s lone Muslim face in the last Lok Sabha, Shahnawaz Hussain, lost the Bhagalpur parliamentary constituency to RJD's Shailesh Kumar by 9,485 votes.

BJP’s three Muslim candidates in Jammu and Kashmir lost as the party won the other three seats in the state.

The two Muslim candidates fielded from  West Bengal were also defeated and so was Sayed Mohammed Koya,  the BJP’s Lakshadweep candidate.

BJP had planned celebrations in advance
Shaurya K Gurung
Tribune News Service

The celebrations were planned in advance as the party had ordered one lakh ladoos and called in a caterer to prepare food.

Jaya, Didi show might; Maya, Third Front wiped out
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 16
The ‘Amma-Didi-Behenji’ troika of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BSP supremo Mayawati, was considered the most powerful, next only to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in male-dominated national politics.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the ‘Amma’ and the ‘Didi’ have emerged even stronger while the ‘Behenji’ has been reduced to ‘zero’ in her home state of Uttar Pradesh.

But both victors and the vanquished have been rendered irrelevant in national politics with the BJP-Led NDA coalition registering an unprecedented victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

The poll outcome has not only reduced them to this level, but also dashed their hopes of stitching together a Third Front. With the exception of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, other regional satraps, who were dreaming of a Third Front government in the event of the NDA failing to attain the magic figure of 272 in the new Lok Sabha, also faced a humiliating defeat in their own strongholds.

The Left Front, which too was decimated, attributed the BJP’s victory to an anti-Congress wave in the country. Under normal circumstances, both ‘Didi’ and ‘Amma’ would have become strong power blocks at the Centre and used their numbers in the Lower house to dictate terms to the Centre. But the verdict is quite clear: Modi does not need any party’s support to run his government.

In any case, Mamata had already burnt bridges with Modi, making a strong personal attack on him during the shrill election campaign in her state. Despite proving to be the undisputed queen of Tamil Nadu politics, Jayalalithaa may have also lost an opportunity to be in the good books of Modi because of her personal ambition to become the PM. It all now depends on Modi to decide whether he wants to keep Jayalalithaa on his side, given the precarious position of the NDA in the Rajya Sabha where the new government will need support of other parties to ensure the passage of key legislations.

The Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who also considered himself as a potential candidate for the Prime Ministership, lost substantial ground to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Sonia, Rahul take the blame for defeat
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 16
Shock and disbelief marked the moods at Congress headquarters today as a saffron tsunami washed the grand old party away from most parts of the country reducing its Lok Sabha tally to the poorest ever of 44 out of 543 seats.

The Congress posted its worst ever electoral performance ending with a historically low vote share of 19.8 per cent and failed to cross the double digit mark in any state. It was wiped out from Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K, Jharkand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu and reduced to two seats in Uttar Pradesh where it had 21 seats in the last elections. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi were the sole winners for Congress in UP which the BJP swept.

The extent of Congress’ electoral disaster is clear from the fact that even in the 1977 General Election held after the Emergency, former PM Indira Gandhi secured a vote share of 34 per cent for the Congress. Later in 1999 polls when the Congress recorded its previously lowest Lok Sabha tally of 114 seats its vote share was still respectable at 28.30 per cent.

But this day was all about Congress’ annihilation, with Sonia and Rahul both taking responsibility for defeat and calling for introspection. Sonia has called a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision making body on May 19, to plan course correction and discuss future strategy which would centre on transformational changes.

Importantly, Sonia defended Congress’ policies today after she had thanked the new Government without naming the BJP or its PM candidate Narendra Modi). “We fought these elections on the basis of out secular ideology and policies. Yet we did not get the support we anticipated ….We will continue to struggle without compromising on our ideals. I accept the responsibility for defeat as party chief.” Among top Congress leaders who lost today are ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Jaipal Reddy, Preneet Kaur, Jitin Prasada, RPN Singh, Kapil Sibal, Pallam Raju, Salman Khurshid (lost his deposit) and Girija Vyas (lost by over three lakh votes.

Congress general secretaries who lost are Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken, CP Joshi, Mukul Wasnik, Gurudas Kamat and Madhusudan Mistry whom Modi defeated in Vadodara with a record margin of 5.70 lakh votes. Rahul’s entire young brigade was wiped out and all recently appointed state Congress presidents lost including Ashok Tanwar in Haryana, Partap Bajwa in Punjab, Nirmal Khatri in UP, Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan and Bhubaneshwar Kalita in Assam.

Lok Sabha MPs considered close to Rahul also had to bite the dust, among them Priya Dutt and Milind Deora in Maharashtra; Meenakshi Natarajan in Madhya Pradesh, Jyoti Mirdha, Jitender Singh and Azharuddin in Rajasthan and Vijayinder Singla in Sangrur who lost by over two lakh votes to AAP’s Bhagwant Mann.

‘Bring Priyanka’ rant rocks Cong
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Rae Bareli and Amethi, where Priyanka campaigned for her mother and brother, came to Congress’ kitty with respectable margins as Sonia won by over 3.52 lakh votes and Rahul by 1.07 lakh. Since the only seats Congress won in UP are the ones where Priyanka campaigned, slogans seeking Priyanka’s entry to party fold are only natural.

Record number of ex-Army men in Parliament
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 16
It what may be an unprecedented development in Indian politics, at least six former Defence personnel from across the country have been elected to the Lok Sabha at the same time. Prominent among them are former Army Chief, General VK Singh and Olympian Col Rajyavardhan Singh.

Gen VK  Singh (retd)

Rajya- vardhan Singh

While some of them emerged victorious in the first political battle, others are political veterans. There are also several former army officers who chose to contest the elections, but could not make it.

In their maiden political foray, General VK Singh and Col Rathore contested on BJP tickets from Ghaziabad and Jaipur (rural) constituencies. General VK Singh, who as Army Chief was embroiled in a legal battle with the government over his date of birth, emerged victorious by a huge margin, polling about 7.5 lakh votes vis-à-vis about 1.9 lakh poled by his nearest rival, Raj Babbar of the Congress. Col Rathore, a Grenadiers officer who had won a silver in shooting at the 2004 Athens Olympics, too won by an impressive margin polling over 6 lakh votes – double his nearest rival from the Congress.

This would be the second time a former service chief will enter Parliament. Earlier, General Shankar Roychowdhary had been nominated as a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal.

Massive victory for BJP in Uttar Pradesh
Wrests 71 of 80 seats; Mulayam’s SP, Cong routed; Mayawati’s BSP draws a blank
Tribune News Service

The deserted Congress office in Lucknow on Friday. PTI

Lucknow, May 16
The exit polls saw a clear Modi wave in Uttar Pradesh, but what it did not predict was a Modi tsunami that has completely wiped out all Opposition parties.

Of the crucial 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has won 71 on its own and its alliance partner Apna Dal has brought in another two. This reduces the Opposition parties in UP to seven seats altogether — shared by the Yadavs and Gandhis.

Not even Modi's close associate Amit Shah had perdicted such large-scale victory. He had given 50 to 55 seats to the BJP and predicted that the BSP will come second.

Both his prophecies were way off the mark as the BSP shockingly drew a blank. However, it is hard to claim that Uttar Pradesh took Modi to unmatched victory. Even without UP, Modi was well on his way to rule the country.

The UP verdict is, however, a clear paradigm shift. The tools which had been in use to assess and analyse political and sociological situations in the state have suddenly become ineffectual. At the moment, all analysis based on intricate caste and sub-caste calculations, community and regional variations have been unable to adequately explain the results.

Even at the height of the Ram Mandir movement, the BJP had managed to win 54 seats and account for 33 percent of the vote share.

In 2014, without any ostensible external factor, the BJP has won 71+2 seats and its vote share is 42.3 percent. This decisive vote for Modi is clearly a positive vote for change. It is the yearning of the common people for respite from their daily drudgery of power failures, potholed roads, corruption seeping the system, scams and the general feeling of despondency that has been plaguing the governments both at the national and the state level.

Still, it is not for a party like AAP that promised a new kind of transparent polity. Even its convener Arvind Kejriwal failed to win. More surprisingly, months of hard work of Kumar Vishwas in Amethi did not get him even the second slot.

The verdict is also significant as it underlines the political irrelevance of the Muslims in the so-called heartland. It proves that even without their support a political party can polarise votes and win handsomely.

Notably, not a single Muslim MP has been voted to the Lok Sabha from UP, which accounts for approximately 18 percent of Muslims. The verdict is virtually the end of the road for the Rashtriya Lok Dal brand of politics. The disruption of the Jat-Muslim combination after Muzaffarnagar riots has completely undermined the party's prospects.

None of its six candidates managed to win, not even film star Jaya Prada or the maverick Amar Singh. Even the father-son duo of Ajit Singh and Jayant Chadhury failed to impress the electorate.

The SP managed to win five family seats, of which Mulayam Singh Yadav would have to forgo one, leaving the party with only four. This puts a big question mark on the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in the state. Six ministers, 13 MLAs and even the Vidhan Sabha Speaker have bitten the dust. But, the CM would have to tread carefully to contain the damage as BJP Jhansi MP Uma Bharti has already hinted at 40 SP MLAs being in touch with the BJP.

Similarly, all seven UPA-II ministers from UP have not just lost but (except one) failed to save their deposits. The other significant aspect is that the BJP has won all 17 reserved seats, indicating an important shift in the Dalit vote.

The BSP which saw itself emerging as a 'balance of power' after the elections is completely routed.

Family affair for SP; BSP fails to open account
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, May 16
The 2014 Lok Sabha election has proved, if any proof was required, that Samajwadi Party is a strictly family affair. All five seats that SP could salvage in Uttar Pradesh are the ones where family members were in the fray.

Mulayam Singh Yadav won from both Mainpuri and Azamgarh with 3.5 lakh and 62,000 votes, respectively.

Daughter-in-law Dimple retained the Kannauj seat, nephew Dharmendra Yadav managed the Badaun seat and new family entrant in politics Akshay Yadav, son of Ramgopal Yadav, wrested the Firozabad seat.

Meanwhile, the most shocking aspect of the Uttar Pradesh verdict is the complete rout of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which could not even open its account dashing all hopes of BSP supremo to be the “balance of power” at the national level.

The party perceived to be representing the Dalits and marginalised has not been able to win even one of the 17 reserved seats.

Since the early trends started coming in the BSP supremo went into a hurdle with her senior party members at her residence, while the BSP’s office across the road wore a completely deserted look.

For the pragmatic BSP leader Mayawati, this is certainly the most serious crisis of her political career with her mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram not around to guide her.

The points that she must be introspecting over is if the Dalit vote has deserted her, did her Muslim card not work as expected and most importantly did her social engineering formula let her down once again.

Sonia, Rahul face-savers for Congress in UP
Tribune News Service

While Rae Bareli returned Sonia with a relatively respectable margin of 3.5 lakh votes, in Amethi the situation for Rahul was touch and go from the start. Finally, he did manage to win.

NDA crushes opponents in Bihar

Patna, May 16
Thanks to the wave in favour of Narendra Modi, the BJP-led NDA Friday crushed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U and the RJD-Congress combine by winning 31 of the state's 40 seats.

The result surprised leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

“It is really the biggest-ever victory for the BJP in Bihar, all thanks to the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi,” said senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav.

The Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine in the state won seven seats and the ruling JD (U) won only two.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad's wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi was defeated by BJP candidate and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran by 44,000 votes, while their daughter Misa Bharti was defeated in Pataliputra by BJP's Ram Kirpal Yadav by 42,000 votes. RJD candidate Pappu Yadav defeated JD (U) president Sharad Yadav in Madhepura.

Congress leader Mohammad Asrarul Haque won from Muslim-majority Kishanganj. Pappu Yadav's wife Ranjeet Ranjan of the Congress won from Supaul.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan won from his traditional Hajipur seat, while his actor-turned-politician son Chirag Paswan won from Jamui.

Lok Sabha speaker and Congress candidate Meira Kumar was defeated in Sasaram, while former Kerala governor and Congress candidate Nikhil Kumar also lost in Aurangabad.

They were defeated by the BJP candidates Chedi Paswan and Sushil Kumar Singh, respectively.

Actor-turned-politician and BJP sitting MP from Patna Sahib Shatrughan Sinha won by over one lakh votes over Congress candidate Kunal Singh.

Former union minister and BJP candidate Shahnawaz Hussain was defeated in Bhagalpur.

The JD (U)'s Kaushlendra Kumar managed to retain Nalanda, the home turf of Nitish Kumar, while party candidate Santosh Kushwaha won from Purnea by defeated BJP sitting MP Uday Singh. Most of the JD (U)s sitting MP lost the polls.

The RJD veterans Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagdanand Singh and Ali Ashraf Fatmi were defeated in Vaishali, Buxar and Darbhanga respectively. — IANS

Lalu's wife, daughter lose

• RJD chief Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi was defeated by BJP candidate and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran by 44,000 votes
• Their daughter Misa Bharti was defeated in Pataliputra by BJP's Ram Kirpal Yadav by 42,000 votes

Saffron sweep in Gujarat
BJP wins all 26 seats, overthrows ex-CM and 3 central ministers
Manas Dasgupta
Tribune News Service

winners

Narendra Modi BJP Vadodara

Lk Advani  BJP Gandhinagar

Paresh Raval  BJP Ahmedabad East

Ahmedabad, May 16
Riding on the “Gujarat pride” wave, BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi led his party to a spectacular victory in his home state of Gujarat, making a clean sweep of all 26 seats throwing on the wayside a former chief minister and three members of the outgoing Manmohan Singh cabinet.

Former Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, once a colleague of Modi in the state BJP, who before the election claimed he saw “coming of the third UPA ministry” and expected the Congress to win at least 16 seats in the state, was himself biting the dust at his Sabarkantha constituency in north Gujarat.

While Modi himself defeated All-India Congress Committee general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, a close confidant of the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, by a near-record margin of over 5.20 lakh votes in Vadodara, three ministers of state in the outgoing central cabinet, Dinsha Patel (Kheda), Bharatsinh Solanki (Anand) and Tushar Chaudhary (Bardoli) also failed to open the account for the Congress in the state.

Besides Modi, the prominent among other BJP winners in the state were the veteran leader and Modi’s one-time political mentor Lal Krishna Advani who retained his Gandhinagar seat for the sixth consecutive time and the famous Bollywood film star Paresh Raval, though a newcomer in the political arena, claimed the Ahmedabad (East) seat with ease defeating a former mayor of Ahmedabad Himmatsinh Patel.

Valsad seat in South Gujarat, nicknamed by the local people as “gateway to Delhi,” has again kept its record unbroken with the seat having gone to the BJP.

BJP wave in Rajasthan

Jaipur, May 16
The BJP Friday made a clean sweep in Rajasthan by winning all the 25 Lok Sabha seats from the desert state. The Congress, on the other hand, recorded its worst defeat in the state’s history. The Congress won 20 seats in 2009 and the party’s lowest tally was one in the post-Emergency 1977 elections.

Prominent Congress leaders who lost included union ministers Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Girja Vyas (Chittorgarh), Bhanwar Jitendra Singh (Alwar) and Chandresh Kumari (Jodhpur), and party leaders Namonarain Meena (Dausa) and former India cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin (Tonk-Sawai Madhopur).

Prominent BJP leaders who won included sitting MP from Bikaner Arjun Ram Meghwal and Dushyant Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, from Jhalwar-Baran constituency. The biggest win was by Ramcharan Bohra of the BJP who defeated Mahesh Joshi of the Congress by over 5.36 lakh votes in Jaipur.

“We accept the people’s mandate. I accept defeat and take responsibility for the election results. We never expected this kind of results... look at the results... the big margins our candidates have lost. It is time for introspection,” state Congress president Sachin Pilot said at a press conference. “No one expected this kind of result,” said political analyst Ravi Goswami. “It seems anti-incumbency against the centre, and the Narendra Modi wave contributed to the defeat of the Congress in the state,” he said.

Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje said: “We were working on a mission 25... we are happy to achieve it. This win is of the public, the people. This win is the result of the hard work of the BJP workers. I thank them all for the big win.” “We under the leadership of Modiji will work for the betterment and development of the country,” she said. Celebrations broke out at the BJP office in Jaipur. Shouting slogans like “Modi Modi” and “Vasundhara Raje Zindabad”, BJP workers burst fire-crackers and danced to the beat of drums.

“We are very happy and are sure that good days are coming,” said a BJP supporter. In the recent assembly elections held in December, the BJP won 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the state. — IANS

BJP, allies boot out Congress-NCP in Maharashtra
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

losers

S Shinde  Congress Beed

Priya Dutt Congress Bandra

Praful Patel  NCP Bhandara -Gondia

Medha Patkar AAP Mumbai North East

Milind Deora  Congress South Mumbai

Mumbai, May 16
The Narendra Modi wave has swept away the ruling Congress-NCP coalition in Maharashtra. Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the five-party alliance led by the BJP has won 41 seats.

Among the stalwarts of the ruling front who bit the dust today include union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Praful Patel and Milind Deora. Other prominent losers include Chhagan Bhujbal and Padamsinh Patil of the NCP and Priya Dutt and Sanjay Nirupam from the Congress.

Controversial leader Ashok Chavan of the Congress contesting from Nanded and NCP boss Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule contesting from Baramati are just two prominent faces to win from the ruling front.

The decimation of the Congress-NCP is already causing a churn in both parties. Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane was among the first to submit his resignation after he failed to ensure the victory of his son and sitting MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nilesh. The seat was won by Shiv Sena candidate Vinayak Raut marking the end of the Rane family’s hold in the region.

Sources here said infighting had broken out in the ruling coalition. Faction leaders who buried their differences ahead of the elections are demanding a change in leadership in the state.

The Maratha lobby is keen on replacing Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with Ashok Chavan as assembly elections are due later this year.

However another section of the Congress is demanding the head of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre. Even the NCP is not immune from the blame game.

Senior party leaders like Bhujbal who did not want to contest the Lok Sabha elections are already upset is expected to revolt against the party leadership, according to sources here.

Bhujbal had earlier told reporters that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar wanted him out of the state in order to consolidate his hold in party. On the other hand, the mood in the NDA camp is one of jubilation. Apart from the big names like Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari, even new faces have managed to be swept into parliament by the NaMo wave. Newbie Poonam Mahajan, daughter of the late Pramod Mahajan, who defeated Priya Dutt in the Bandra seat is among the giant killers.

The saffron camp is hopeful of doing an encore in the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra as well. The BJP is already demanding that the assembly be dissolved as the ruling coalition has “lost the people’s mandate”.

Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has turned out to be a total flop in the current Lok Sabha elections.

BJP wins both seats in Goa

Panaji, May 16
The BJP won the Lok Sabha elections in Goa by defeating Congress in both the parliamentary constituencies in the state today. The BJP retained the North Goa seat, while wresting Congress’ South Goa bastion.

Sitting MP and BJP candidate Sripad Naik won in North Goa defeating Congress’ Ravi Naik, while Congress’ Aleixo Lourenco Reginaldo lost to BJP’s Narendra Sawaikar in South Goa.

Sripad Naik polled 1,76,124 votes as against 87,145 votes by Ravi Naik followed by votes of Dattaram Desai from AAP, who polled 11,791 votes.

In South Goa, Sawaikar polled 1,98,776 votes as against Reginaldo who got 1,66,446 votes. A woman candidate Swati Kerkar contesting on AAP ticket got 11,246 votes, Trinamool Congress Party leader Churchill Alemao polled 11,941 votes.

Goa had gone to polls on April 12 wherein 76.82 per cent voters exercised their franchise. The record voting was nearly 21 per cent more than 2009 polls which saw 55 per cent of the voters cast ballot. The 1998 Parliamentary polls had recorded 68 per cent votes.

"We were expecting the winning margin. People have stood by BJP during the last assembly polls and so also in the Parliamentary elections," BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar told PTI soon after the results. He said that the party is also getting acceptance in the Catholic population. — PTI

Jaya decimates DMK, Congress
AIADMK wins 37 of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu; BJP and ally PMK get one each

Chennai, May 16
Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK rode on a Jayalalithaa wave to gobble up 37 of the state's 39 Lok Sabha seats to become one of the largest parties in the Lok Sabha today.

The wave was such that there will be no Congress or DMK representative from the state in the Lok Sabha for the next five years as things stand now.

Many of the prominent candidates of these two parties as well as from others crashed to defeat. They included DMK's A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, TKS Elangovan, T.R. Baalu and Congress' Karti P.Chidambaram, son of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, EVKS Elangovan and others.

MDMK's candidates including its leader Vaiko, candidates from the two communist parties and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also lost.

However, PMK's Anbumani Ramadoss contesting from Dharmapuri and BJP's Pon Radhakrishan from Kanyakumari were the two victorious survivors. Both parties are in alliance.

Even as the initial trends started coming in, AIADMK party cadres started victory celebrations at the party headquarters here.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is also the AIADMK supremo, told reporters: "It is a historic, unparalleled, unprecedented victory without any alliance. I would like to thank all those who worked for the victory."

She also conveyed her best wishes to the BJP's Narendra Modi, who is set to become the next Prime Minister, and said her party would act as a responsible political party.

"We are the third largest party and we will act as a responsible political party," she said, adding she hoped that the new government at the Centre would be friendly towards Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan said the results "are as per our expectations". "In fact, we were sure of winning all 39 seats. Further, this is also the first time the party fought the Lok Sabha elections on its own."

According to him, the AIADMK government has implemented several welfare schemes that reached the poor which in turn resulted in the party's win. — IANS

UPA ministers from Kerala salvage pride

Thiruvananthapuram, May 16
Even as their colleagues in the ministerial council led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced humiliating defeats across India, Union ministers hailing from Kerala have managed to salvage some pride for the Congress.

All five central ministers from Kerala contesting the 2014 General Election have managed to retain their respective seats.

In the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram constituency, fortunes may have fluctuated during the counting for Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, but he finally did manage to pip his main rival O Rajagopal of the BJP.

Tharoor's winning margin was, however, whittled down considerably from a staggering 99,998 votes in 2009 to a mere 14,501 votes this time.

Minister of State for Labour Kodikunnil Suresh retained the Mavelikara seat defeating his traditional rival Chengera Surendran of the Communist Party of India (CPI) by a margin of 32,330 votes.

In Alappuzha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation KC Venugopal won for a second time, defeating his nearest CPM rival CB Chandrababu by a margin of 20,379 votes.

In Ernakulam, Food, Public Distribution, Consumer Affairs Minister (independent charge) KV Thomas retained the Ernakulam seat with a handsome margin of 87,047 votes, defeating former bureaucrat and Left-supported Independent candidate Christie Fernandes.

Another close battle was witnessed for the Vadakara seat, where union Minister of State for Home Mulapally Ramachandran retained the seat with a slender margin of 3,306 votes.

Of the 20 seats in the southern state, the Congress won eight and its allies won four-the Indian Union Muslim League won two, and the Kerala Congress-Mani and the Revolutionary Socialist Party won a seat apiece. — IANS

UDF maintains edge in Kerala, LDF betters position

Thiruvananthapuram, May 16
In a relief to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the ruling Congress-led UDF maintained edge over the CPM-led LDF by winning 12 of the 20 seats in Kerala, but it failed to match its 2009 tally of 16.

winners

Shashi Tharoor  congress Thiruvanan thapuram

KV Thomas  congress Ernakulam

losers

PC chako  congress Chalakkudi

MP Veerendra Kumar  Janata dal (secular) Palakkad

The BJP, which made spectacular gains in the northern and western regions of the country, once again failed to open its account in this southern state.

The Congress won eight seats against 13 in 2009, while its allies the IUML, the Kerala Congress (M) and RSP won two, one and one seat, respectively. The LDF, which won four seats last time, doubled its tally by winning eight seats.

The result of Vatakara, where Union Minister Mullapally Ramachandran registered a margin of over 3,000 votes against CPM rival AN Shamseer, is yet to be declared due to technical reasons.

The LDF wrested from the Congress Kannur, Thrissur, Chalakkudi, and Idukki seats besides retaining all four seats it bagged in 2009.

BJP leader O Rajagopal was defeated by Union minister Shashi Tharoor of the Congress by 15,470 votes in Thiruvananthapuram where leads fluctuated.

Besides Tharoor, Union ministers from the state who romped home were KV Thomas (Ernakulam), KC Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara) and IUML leader E Ahamed (Malappuram).

The CPM suffered a jolt as the party's Politburo member and former Education Minister MA Baby lost to NK Premachandran of the RSP in Kollam in a keenly fought contest.

Causing fissures in the Left block, the RSP had crossed over to the UDF just before the elections after falling out with the CPM over denial of the Kollam seat.

Prominent UDF losers included Congress spokesperson PC Chacko, who was humbled by film actor Innocent at Chalakkudi.

In Palakkad, SJD supremo and former Union minister MP Veerendrakumar was defeated by CPM's sitting MP MB Rajesh by a margin of over 1,05,300 votes.

The lone woman candidate to make it to Parliament from the state is PK Sreemathy of the CPM from politically volatile Kannur where she defeated firebrand Congress leader K Sudhakaran by a margin of 6,566 votes.

Woman contestants who fell by the wayside include Bindu Krishna, All-India vice-president of the Mahila Congress, AAP's Sarah Joseph in Thrissur and Anita Pratap in Ernakulam.

The Congress contested 15 seats and won eight of them. The CPM, which put up its own candidates on 10 seats and supported Independents on five, together bagged seven seats.

The CPI, which drew a blank in 2009, has the consolation of winning one seat, but it suffered the humiliation of finishing third in Thiruvananthapuram behind the BJP's O Rajagopal, who was the runner-up.

Congress' long-time allies, the IUML and the KC (M), held their sway over their strongholds of Malappuram, Ponnani and Kottayam respectively.

The IUML contestants retained both Ponnani and Malappuram with impressive margins while Jose K Mani of the Kerala Congress (M), son of state Finance Minister KM Mani, won Kottayam with a handsome margin of over 1.2 lakh. — PTI

Mamata’s magic does the trick in WB
Subhrangshu Gupta
Tribune News Service

Kolkata, May 16
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) today swept West Bengal by winning 
34 of the 42 seats in the 16th Lok Sabha election. The BJP, which had no political base in the state, won two seats.

The Congress retained four of the six seats, but the CPM and other Left Front parties put up the worst show by winning only two seats against the 15 it had won in the last Lok Sabha election.

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was delighted at the party’s masssive victory, but equally worried at the BJP’s rise in Bengal. She feared that the BJP’s presence might disturb the peace and communal harmony in the state.

Mamata feared that the nation would be run by the RSS and other communal forces, but hoped BJP’s Narendra Modi woud protect rights of Muslims and other minorities.

She said she was happy that despite the conspiracy and concerted moves of the Opposition parties for vested interests, the people had voted the TMC to power. She dedicated the victory to the Ma, Mati and Manush.

As the news of the victory of TMC candidates started pouring into the Trinamool Bhavan and Mamata’s Kalighat residence, leaders and workers burst into cheer. They exchanged roses among themselves and sweets were also distributed.

Scores of TMC workers came out on streets and participated in the victory celebration. Mamata said the TMC would play a positive role in the Opposition in Parliament. “The party will support the new government’s pro-people decisions, but strongly oppose it’s communal policies. I hope the state won’t be denied its legitimate dues by the new government,” Mamata said.

The key players in the TMC who had contested and won include: Dinesh Trivedi (Barrackpore) defeated the CPM’s Suhashini Ali; Saugata Roy (Dum Dum) defeated CPM’s Asim Dasgupta and BJP’s Tapan Sikdar; Kakali Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat) defeated BJP’s PC Sorcer (junior); Sudip Banerjee (Uttar Kolkata) defeated CPM’s Rupa Bagchi, Congress’ Somen Mitra and BJP’s Rahula Sinha; Subrata Bakshi (Dakshin Kolkata) defeated BJP’s Tathagata Roy, Congress’ Mala Roy and CPM’s Nandini Mukheree; Sugata Bose (Jadavpore) defeated CPM’s Sujan Chakraborty; Tapash Pal (Krishnanagar) defeated BJP’s Satyabrata Mukherjee; Kalyan Banerjee (Srirampore) defeated BJP’s Bappi Lahiri; Ratna Nag (Hooghly) defeated BJP’s Chandan Mitra. Most suprising victory was of actor Moon Moon Sen who defeated the eight-time elected MP Basudev Acharya of the CPM in Bankura.

The Congress candidates who registered victory include Adhir Chowdhury at Baharampur who defeated the TMC’s Indranil Sen (singer) by more than 2 lakh votes. Other winners are Mausum Noor at Malda North and Abu Hashem Khan Chaudhury in Malda south. But Deepa Das Munshi lost to Md Selim of the CPM at Raiganj. The BJP won Darjeeling and Asansol seats and stood second in Dum Dum, south Kolkata.

winners

Moon Moon Sen  TMC

Babul Supriyo  BJP

Dinesh Trivedi  TMC

losers

Bhaichung Bhutia  TMC

Bappi Lahiri  BJP

Chandan Mitra  BJP

TMC to play greater and constructive role, says Didi

Kolkata, May 16
After putting up a brilliant performance in the Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress today said it would play a greater constructive role in the country.

Party chief Mamata Banerjee claimed that the success came despite “malicious campaign” launched by a section of the media against which the party fought single-handedly.

“We will play a greater constructive role in the country. We thank the people and at the end of it, it is the people who have emerged as the ‘Man of the Match’,” Banerjee said. “We are for harmony of all castes, religions and creeds. We are in favour of economic, financial and political stability,” she said.

Of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, Banerjee’s TMC has performed extremely well.

She blamed the media for ushering in a one-sided malicious campaign against Trinamool in tandem with the Opposition. Banerjee said after such kind of a malicious campaign, value-based politics would be replaced by value-less politics.

“There was so much of malicious campaign, but still CPM has simply vanished from the market,” said Banerjee.

Banerjee said the AIDMK in Tamil Nadu had performed well. She appealed to all her party supporters and workers to maintain calm and peace in Bengal. — PTI

Upbeat BJP to strengthen its Bengal base

Kolkata, May 16
Elated over its performance in West Bengal, the BJP today said it would prepare for the 2016 Assembly election by strengthening the party base in the state, capitalising on the performance.

The BJP leadership also felt that the Trinamool’s dream run in the Lok Sabha polls is due to the division of anti-TMC votes between Opposition parties.

“It is due to the division of anti-TMC votes in the state that the TMC had such a dream run. If we had an organisation like the CPM, we could have delivered much much better,” said state BJP chief Rahul Sinha.

He said Mamata Banerjee needed to understand the mood of Bengal voters. “They have voted for the BJP for its good governance and development and have warned her not to follow vote bank politics. In any case, the 2016 Assembly polls will be fought on the TMC versus BJP plank,” senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh told PTI.

The BJP has taken a handsome lead in 2 out of 42 seats. — PTI

BJP juggernaut dashes Gogoi’s dream run
Bijay Sankar Bora
Tribune News Service

Guwahati, May 16
The BJP’s stunning victory has virtually put an end to the Congress’ dream run in Assam since 2001.

Belying the over-confidence exuded by Gogoi, the BJP bulldozed through several Congress bastions in Assam, including Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Lakhimpur parliamentary seats, while registering its highest tally in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The BJP has improved its tally to seven seats as compared to four of 2009.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s pilot project “primary” for selection of candidates has been left devastated in Gauhati constituency where Rahul’s choice Manas Borah, son of Assam senior minister Akon Borah, has been defeated by the sitting BJP MP and former Union Minister Bijoya Chakraborty.

The only silver lining for the Congress is the victory of Gogoi’s son Gourav Gogoi in Kaliabor constituency, which has been retained by the Congress by defeating the BJP, which also lost its Silchar seat to Congress candidate Sushmita Deb. Sitting Congress MP Biren Sing Engti retained Autonomous District seat for the party.

The most significant among the BJP’s win in Assam have been registered in Dibrugarh and Jorhat constituencies, which have been Congress’ citadel since Independence. In Dibrugarh, BJP candidate Rameswar Teli trounced five-time sitting MP and three-time Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar by over 1.85 lakh votes.

In Jorhat, BJP candidate Kamakhya Prasad Tasa defeated Congress’ six-time sitting MP and former Union Minister Bijoy Krishna Handique, while state BJP president Sarbananda Sonowal has made Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Ranee Narah bite the dust in Lakhimpur constituency by winning with a vast margin.

All these seats have been snatched by the BJP from three Congress veterans by making inroads into Congress bastion among tea workers. Significantly, the BJP has won in these three parliamentary constituencies where over 80% Assembly segments are in the Congress’ grip.

The BJP, which has five MLAs in the 126-member Assam Assembly, has managed to humiliate the Congress that has 78 MLAs and has proved that not only “Modi wave” but the anti-incumbency against Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam had benefitted the saffron party.

The anti-incumbency factor’s significance in determining poll results has been proved in ethnically sensitive Kokrajhar (ST) constituency where the Congress ally Bodoland People’s Front (BPF)’s candidate Chandan Brahma has been relegated to the third position, while Independent candidate and former ULFA leader Naba Kumar Sarania won by a margin of over three lakh votes.

Apart from the BJP, the woes of the ruling Congress has been multiplied by the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a religious minority-oriented political party that has snatched minorities-dominated Barpeta and Karimganj constituencies from the Congress besides retaining Dhubri constituency. If the BJP has made inroads into the Congress bastion among tea workers in eastern Assam, the AIUDF has caused massive erosion in the Congress bastion among the religious minorities in western Assam.

The winning candidates for the BJP: Rameswar Teli (Dibrugarh), Sarbananda Sonowal (Lakhimpur), Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (Jorhat), Ram Prasad Sarmah (Tezpur), Rajen Gohain (Nowgong), Bijoya Chakraborty (Gauhati) and Ramen Deka (Mangaldoi). Out of these BJP has snatched Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Jorhat from Congress and Tezpur from Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The rest three have been retained by the BJP.

The winning candidates for the Congress: Gourav Gogoi (Kaliabor), Biren Sing Engti (Autonomous district), Sushmita Dev (Silchar). Out of these, the Congress has wrested Silchar from the BJP.

Winning candidates for the AIUDF: Badruddin Ajmal (Dhubri), Sirajuddin Ajmal (Barpeta) and Radeshyam Biswas (Karimganj).The AIUDF has snatched Barpeta and Karimganj from the Congress.

Former ULFA leader Naba Kumar Sarania (Kokrajhar-ST) has won as an Independent.

winners
Gourav Gogoi  Congress
Sarbananda Sonowal  BJP
Ram Prasad BJP
Rameswar Teli  BJP

losers
	Manas Borah Congress
	Paban Singh  Congress
	Bijoy Krishna Congress
	Ranee Narah  Congress

Post defeat, Assam CM offers to quit
Bijay Sankar Bora
Tribune News Service

Guwahati, May 16
In the wake of poor performance of the ruling Congress in Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said he would quit the post and would submit his resignation to party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Gogoi said he was not a person who would go back on his words in reference to his earlier declaration that he would resign if the Congress won less than seven seats of the total 14 in the state.

“I will submit my resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi, taking full responsibility for the party’s performance in the state,” Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati. He, however, did not say when he would quit.

“This is not an emotional decision. This is a temporary setback. I have seen such a situation before and the party has always bounced back. I have seen how Indira ji had bounced back in 1980s and how the Congress had come back in Assam in 1991 after getting devastated by the Asom Gana Parishad in 1985. We will win the 2016 Assembly polls, you just wait and watch,” Gogoi said.

Gogoi said we would accept the people’s mandate with humility and would try to rectify mistakes before the 2016 Assembly polls. When asked about plausible causes of the party’s defeat, Gogoi said the party would sit down and analyse later. He, however, denied to accept that dissidence within the party was one of the reasons behind the party’s poll debacle. He said “misinformation campaign by Modi over illegal migration from Bangladesh” was one of the reasons for the Congress’ defeat.

AGP draws a blank

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), led by former CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, has drawn a blank. The party had won only one seat (Tezpur) in 2009, which has been wrested by the BJP this time.

Trusted for the 4th time, BJD’s Naveen promises to deliver

Bhubaneswar, May 16
An overwhelmed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who led the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to power in the state for the fourth time on the trot, today thanked people for their support in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

“I express my deep gratitude towards the people of Odisha who blessed the BJD to power for fourth consecutive time. This is victory of the four crore people of Odisha and I accept their verdict humbly,” Patnaik said.

Patnaik said he was humbled by the people’s blessing showered on the BJD candidates both in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Patnaik expressed his special “gratitude” towards the women voters who participated enthusiastically during the polling.

Stating that the BJD was committed to upkeep Odia “swabhiman” (pride) and protect interest of people, Patnaik said: “This victory indicates the good governance given by the BJD government. This election result has once again given strength to the BJD to vigorously pursue its commitment to protect state’s interest and fight for its pride.”

Patnaik said the people’s verdict proved that the BJD government’s transparent policies had been accepted by them.

The Chief Minister called upon all to join hands to create a strong and vibrant Odisha.

“The people have sent more number of BJD MPs to Parliament. They will raise Odisha’s issues effectively at the national level,” Patnaik said to a question on the BJD’s possible role in national politics. — PTI

TRS secures resounding mandate in Telangana
Bags 63 seats in 119-member Assembly and 12 out of 17 LS seats
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, May 16
After leading the statehood movement for 13 years, the Telagana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) today secured a resounding mandate in the elections and is set to form the first government in the new state of Telangana.

The regional party emerged as a clear winner, bagging 63 seats in the 119-member Assembly and 12 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the region.

Despite granting statehood for the region, the ruling Congress found itself pushed to the second position and managed to win 20 Assembly seats and Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency.

As the TRS juggernaut rolled on, several prominent Congress leaders fell by the way side. The decisive verdict reflected public endorsement of the TRS’ claim that it alone was responsible for fulfilling the six decade long statehood dream.

The TRS founder president K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is widely seen as the architect of the Telangana movement, won Medak Lok Sabha seat by a massive margin of over three lakh votes and Gajwel Assembly seat by 19,000 votes. KCR, as he is popularly known, is all set to become the first Chief Minister of Telangana, the 29th state of the country.

The Congress suffered a humiliating defeat despite running an aggressive campaign focusing on its “bold” decision to carve out separate Telangana state despite political odds. Its failure to project a Chief Ministerial candidate, lack of cohesive leadership, internal bickering and failure to effectively capitalize on the bifurcation decision led to the party’s drubbing at the hustings.

Clearly, the Congress’ election-eve Telangana gambit has backfired. It faced a total rout in Seemandhra because of an angry backlash over the state’s division while failing to make any gains in Telangana. From being the highest contributor of MP seats to the UPA-II kitty in the 2009 polls, its fall from grace has been dramatic. Its tally has come down to one from 33 in 2009 out of the total 42 in the combined state of AP.

Several party bigwigs, including former Deputy Chief Minister D Rajanarasimha (Andhole), Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy (Mahaboobnagar Lok Sabha), the Telangana Congress Committee chief P Lakshmaiah (Janagaon Assembly), former Minister D Sridhar Babu, former Speaker KR Suresh Reddy (Armoor) and former APCC chief D Srinivas (Nizamabad), were defeated.

The TDP-BJP combine has bagged 23 Assembly seats, putting up a better performance than the Congress. The BJP won Secunderabad and Mahaboobnagar Lok Sabha seats while TDP won Khammam seat. The MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi retained Hyderabad seat.

The credit for TRS’ stupendous victory goes to KCR who steered the movement through several turbulent phases. He took a calculated risk in going to the elections alone after spurning the Congress’ offer of poll alliance. The TRS had also reneged on its earlier promise to merge with Congress once the Parliament passes the Telangana bill.

KCR’s indefinite fast in November, 2009 had proved to be the turning point in the Telangana agitation that prompted the UPA government to announce initiation of the process for formation of separate state. Since then, there has been no looking back.

Among the other prominent winners were KCR’s daughter K Kavitha from Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, son KT Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao from Sircilla and Siddipet Assembly seats, respectively.

“This is a historic moment for the people of Telangana who struggled hard for decades to realise their statehood dream and now have voted their own government. We will fulfill all our poll promises,” KCR said.

That the TRS reaped rich electoral dividends from Telangana sentiment was evident from the massive jump in its tally from 2 LS and 10 Assembly seats in 2009 to 12 LS and 63 Assembly seats now.

Chandrababu sweeps to power in Seemandhra
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, May 16
After a gap of ten years, a resurgent Telugu Desam Party, headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, has returned to power on development plank in residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, capturing 107 seats in the 175-member assembly and 15 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 25.

Naidu’s pro-development image, his track record as a performing Chief Minister during his nine-year tenure from 1995 to 2004 and his party’s last-minute electoral alliance with the BJP have worked in TDP’s favour in Seemandhra covering 13 districts in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra. The region will come into existence as residuary Andhra Pradesh state on June 2 along with Telangana state.

The ruling Congress was decimated, drawing blank both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly. The party bore the brunt of public anger against the bifurcation of the state. Such was the humiliation for the ruling party that all its Union Ministers from the region—Kishore Chandra Deo, Pallam Raju, K Suryaprakash Reddy and Panabaka Lakshmi—were defeated. Several prominent state leaders and former ministers, including the Seemandhra party unit chief N Raghuveera Reddy, had to bite the dust as the Congress was punished severely for splitting the state.

The region had witnessed a fierce, straight contest between TDP and YSR Congress, headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, which went to the polls harping on its pro-poor and pro-minorities image by playing up the various welfare schemes launched Jagan’s father and former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy during his tenure from 2004 to 2009.

However, the voters gave a decisive mandate in favour of TDP which had also made a string of populist promises including waiver of loans for farmers, women’s self-help groups and women’s self-help groups.

Despite emerging as a formidable player with mass base, Jagan fell short of expectations as his party managed to win 66 Assembly and 8 LS seats. His inexperience, coupled with corruption charges and the ongoing CBI case against him, appears to have worked against his fledgling party. Jagan’s campaign theme, focused on bringing back “Rajanna Rajyam” (welfare era of YSR), did not find much resonance in the region.

At a time when Seemandhra is on the cusp of a major transformation, the verdict reflected public preference for an experienced leader like Naidu, who is credited with developing Hyderabad as a favoured investment destination, to steer the new state to prosperity and development.

The support from popular Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan and his participation in the joint election rallies have also boosted the prospects of the TDP-BJP combine. Incidentally, Pawan Kalyan is the younger brother of megastar and Union Minister Chiranjeevi who headed the Congress’ disastrous campaign in Seemandhra.

The TDP’s ally, BJP, won Visakhapatnam and Narsapuram Lok Sabha seats in the region, where the Modi factor appears to have found traction.

For the 64-year-old Naidu, it has been a hard-fought battle as he positioned himself as an ideal candidate to develop the resource-rich state and forged an alliance with BJP. After two successive defeats in 2004 and 2009, Naidu was desperate to return to power and the altered political dynamics after the bifurcation has clearly helped him. In the run-up to the elections, there was an exodus of senior Congress leaders into the party following disintegration of the ruling party.

Naidu, who is set to become the first chief minister of the residuary AP state, was re-elected from Kuppam Assembly seat in Chittoor while his bête noir Jagan won Pulivendula Assembly seat which was once represented by his father.

BJP stages a comeback in Karnataka
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Bangalore, May 16
The BJP emerged triumphant in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka third time in a row having won 17 of the 28 seats in the state as the poll results were announced today.

Interestingly, the Congress also improved its performance in Karnataka having won nine seats against six won by it in 2009. This made Karnataka, where a Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has recently completed one year in office, the only state in the country that could withstand to some extent the “Modi wave” despite having a straight fight with the saffron party in most constituencies

The Congress retained four of the six seats it won in 2009 and wrested Chikodi, Raichur, Chitradurga and Tumkur from BJP. It was victorious in the Bangalore (Rural) seat won by the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2009.

Congress heavyweight and former chief minister Dharam Singh, however, lost to BJP’s Bhagwanth Khuba in Bidar constituency.

Another former chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, JD(S) candidate and son and political successor of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, lost to Congress candidate and union peroleum minister Veerappa Moily at Chikballapur by 9520 votes. Deve Gowda himself retained his Hassan seat by defeating his nearest rival by over one lakh votes. The other seat won by the JD(S) is Mandya where Congress candidate Ramya, a film heroine, lost to JD(S)’s C S Puttaraju by 5518 votes. JD(S) had won three seats in 2009.

For the BJP, the tally is one more than the 16 seats the party had won in 2004 and two less than the 19 seats it bagged in the 2009 elections. The performance is a remarkable recovery by the BJP after the massive drubbing it got in the hands of the Congress in the Assembly elections held last year.

The saffron party, the then ruling party, was reduced to only 40 seats in the 224-member Karnataka House when Assembly elections were held in the state in May 2013.

By all accounts, a big factor responsibe for BJP’s recovery is the return to the party of its two breakaway factions, the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) and the BSR Congress, before the Lok Sabha elections. Former chief minister Yeddyurappa, who was instrumental in the formation of the KJP, fought the election as BJP candidate from his native Shimoga and won by the huge margin of more than 3.6 lakhs votes over his nearest Congress rival.

Corruption charges again Yeddyurappa did not have any adverse affect also on the two other candidates handpicked by Yeddyurappa. Shobha Karandlaje, Yeddyurappa’s close associate and BJP candidate from Udupi-Chikmagalur, won by over v1.41lakh votes. BJP candidate from Haveri S C Udasi, son of Yeddyurappa loyalist CM Udasi, won by over 82,000 votes.

IT czar doesn’t click with B’lore voters
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Bangalore, May 16
The Congress' experiment of fielding IT czar Nandal Nilekani against veteran BJP leader Ananth Kumar in Bangalore (South) constituency has come a cropper. The BJP leader defeated the Infosys co-founder by a huge margin of over two lakh votes.

Nilekani, the richest candidate in the fray in the elections, had pulled out all stops to turn his foray into politics a success. Besides public contact programmes, including large number of roadside meetings, he also roped in stars to campaign for him.

Popular Kannada movie star and Congress minister Ambareesh campaigned for Nilekani as soon as he returned to Bangalore after undergoing medical treatment in Singapore. Playwright and film actor Girish Karnad has nothing to do with the Congress, but he too campaigned for Nilekani. UR Ananthamurthy, Jnanpith Award winning writer and a well-known literary star in Karnataka, also threw his weight behind Nilekani.

But all these efforts came to a nought as Nilekani, who is also architect of the Aaadhaar scheme, was routed in the elections. In Bangalore (South) constituency, Ananth Kumar was well-entrenched among a section of the voters. But some of the voters, who were expected to back Nilekani, also apparently preferred Kumar over him.

Kumar was rattled by Nilekani's candidature and banked heavily on the "Modi factor" to shore up his chances in the elections. Having won by a margin of over two lakh votes, something that was far beyond his expectations, the BJP candidate today was seen busy today pointing out how comprehensively he has defeated the Congress aspirant. "I had a fantastic time campaigning", Nilekani told reporters at a counting centre.

It's a stunning victory for Kumar but it is more of a stunning defeat for Nilekani, who was expected to give a close fight to Kumar if not emerging victorious in the contest. 

BJP sweeps C’garh, wins 10 of 11 seats

Raipur, May 16
Chhattisgarh's ruling BJP maintained its dominance in the third consecutive Lok Sabha election, winning 10 of the total 11 constituencies in the state. The BJP won 10 seats in 2009 and in 2004 as well.

Congress veteran Ajit Jogi lost to BJP candidate and outgoing MP Chandulal Sahu in Mahasamund by just 1,556 votes. However, the official declaration of the result was held back as Jogi sought a recount.

But the BJP suffered a stunning defeat in Durg where its national women's cell chief Saroj Pandey lost to Tamradhwaj Sahu of the Congress. Congress candidate and union minister Charandas Mahant and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla, who recently joined the Congress, suffered crushing defeats in Korba and Bilaspur seats, respectively — IANS

UPA mistakes worked in NDA’s favour: Chouhan

Bhopal, May 16
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today attributed the BJP's spectacular victory in Lok Sabha polls to the charismatic leadership of Narendra Modi and a large number of "follies" committed by the Congress-led UPA government at Centre.

"Along with Modi's leadership qualities, the number of mistakes committed by the UPA helped the BJP to come to power on its own after 30 years in the nation's history," Chouhan told reporters at his residence.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Chouhan said the Congress vice-president had behaved in a "very childish way" by tearing the ordinance in public view, which was aimed at negating the Supreme Court order on disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs.

Chouhan said the Congress-led UPA rule was marked by rampant corruption, inflation and lack of power in decision making, which all added to the defeat of Congress. Chouhan said he would personally meet and congratulate Modi tomorrow. — PTI

Leaderspeak

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Narendra Modi and congratulated him on his party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

PMO’s tweet

This was our first General Election, it is a good start… we are surprised over results in Punjab and shocked over the outcome in Delhi. I am grateful to people for their love and respect.

Arvind Kejriwal, aap

We are not prepared to accept this result as it does not reflect the actual position, the strength and support of the Left parties.

Prakash Karat, cpm

This is a historic moment and the country has chosen Narendra Modi in the name of development. I congratulate him.

Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh cm

This is the people's mandate. This is the victory of the people of India. This is India's victory. BJP accepts this mandate to provide good governance. In the coming days, a positive change is going to take place in the country's political environment."

Amit Shah, bjp leader

The results have been completely against my expectations and hope. We tried our best to ensure the welfare of the country and its people. Our supporters, especially our Muslim brothers had worked very hard for our party and I thank them all. I also congratulate Narendra Modi on his success.

Lalu Prasad, rjd chief

I respect the mandate of the people.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar cm

We respect the mandate... Our party will continue to work to strengthen secular forces. BJP has only tried to spread communalism and it's the victory of communal forces.

Rajendra Chowdhury, SP spokesman

We were working on the mission 25... we are happy to achieve it. This win is of the public, the people. This win is the result of the hard work of the BJP workers. I thank them all for the big win. We under the leadership of Modiji will work for the betterment of the country.

Vasundhara Raje , Rajasthan cm

I express deep gratitude to my voters, young campaigners, political workers and friends who gave me unflinching support throughout the campaign. Serving the people of South Mumbai is matter of great honour and I promise to do so as their former Member of Parliament.

Milind Deora, Congress leader

The new National Democratic Alliance government should be given at least 100 days to settle down before the coastal state puts forth its demands such as the special status and package for those affected by the ban on mining in Goa.~

Manohar Parrikar, Goa Chief Minister

We accept the people’s mandate. I accept defeat and take responsibility for the election results. We never expected this kind of results... look at the results... the big margins our candidates have lost. It is time for introspection.

Sachin Pilot, Congress leader

It is a historic, unparalleled and unprecedented victory without any alliance. I would like to thank all those who worked for the victory.

J Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu cm

DMK accepts people's verdict with a bowed head. We have faced similar losses and bigger triumphs than other parties.

M Karunanidhi, DMK chief

The results are as per our expectations. In fact, we were sure of winning all 39 seats. Further, this is also the first time the party fought the Lok Sabha elections on its own.

C Ponnaiyan, aiadmk leader

Our government will work in cooperation with the new government at the Centre without compromising on the basic ideals of the Congress.

Oommen Chandy, Kerala cm

The TMC will support the new government's pro-people decisions, but strongly oppose it's communal policies. I hope the state won't be denied its legitimate dues by the new government.

Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM

This (resignation) is not an emotional decision. This is a temporary setback. I have seen such a situation before and the party has always bounced back.

Tarun Gogoi, Assam cm

The victory indicates the BJD govt’s good governance. It has given us strength to pursue our commitment to protect state's interest and fight for its pride.

Naveen Patnaik, Odisha cm

The UPA government had badly discriminated against non-Congress governments. This was something which can never be accepted in a federal structure.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, MP CM

Whoever is part of UPA, they all have been punished. The SP, BSP, DMK and NCP have been punished... Whoever has identified itself with UPA, they all have been punished.

Venkaiah Naidu, bjp leader