Cong puts up good show in three states, BJP manages two

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Putting up an impressive show in
the state Assembly elections, the Congress Monday worsted
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in north-western state of
Rajasthan, scored a hat-trick in national capital Delhi and
regained power in north-eastern Mizoram while the saffron
party had to remain content with retaining central states
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.


While the Congress got clear majorities in Delhi and
Mizoram, it may be slightly short of the majority mark of 101
in Rajasthan winning 74 seats and ahead in 23 others. The
ruling BJP has won in 52 seats and was ahead in 26.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has won four seats and
was leading in one while independents have bagged 11 and were
ahead in four. Others won four seats and were leading in one.

Led by Shiela Dikshit, the Congress retained power for
the third consecutive term in Delhi, winning 40 seats in the
70-member Assembly in a keenly fought battle.

The BJP, which was hoping to wrest power after 10
years, was left behind at 22 seats. The BSP won two seats
while Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Lok Janashakti Party
(LJP) bagged one each. Results for three seats are yet to be
declared.

Bagging a two-thirds majority in Mizoram, the Congress
wrested power from the Mizo National Front (MNF) after a
decade, winning 29 of the 40 seats.

The elections, seen as the 'semi-final' ahead of the
Lok Sabha polls next year, brought cheer to the Congress which
had faced a debacle in 13 states after coming to power at the
head of a coalition at the Centre in 2004.

The BJP, which hoped to cash in on the terror card and
sweep in all the states barring Mizoram, managed to retain
their grip on power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on the
development plank, breaking the jinx of failing to get
re-elected in any state other than Gujarat.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP which needs 116 seats to
retain power in the 230-member House, was inching towards
majority winning 109 seats and was leading in 31 others.

The Congress has won 42 seats and was leading in 32
others while the BSP has secured four seats and was leading in
as many seats. The Uma Bharti-led Bhartiya Jan Shakti Party
(BJS) has won one seat and was leading in five but Bharti
herself lost the election in Tikamgarh.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won one seat and was
leading in another while the independents have won two and
were leading in one.

In the 2003 Assembly elections, the BJP had secured
172 seats against Congress' 39 in the state.

Repeating the success in the neighbouring
Chhattisgarh, the saffron party has won 49 seats against
Congress' 36. BSP has won two seats while results for three
are yet to come. In the last elections, the BJP had won 50
seats and the Congress 36.

In Rajasthan, in the last elections the BJP had won
121 seats and the Congress 53. The Congress, this time, may
have to depend on the support of some of the party rebels who
have won as independents and some others to cross the majority
mark.

In Delhi, the Congress had won 48 seats and the BJP 19
while in Mizoram the now routed MNF had won 21 seats and the
Congress 12.

Putting up a brave face, BJP President Rajnath Singh
said the election results were not a setback to the party
which had lost one state -- Rajasthan -- to the Congress.

Singh did term as "surprising" the poll outcome in
Delhi. However, his party colleague and in-charge of Delhi
elections Arun Jaitley said the loss in the capital was a
setback to the party.

Some of the party leaders felt a younger could have
countered the 'Shiela Dikshit effect' instead of 78-year-old
Vijay Kumar Malhotra who was projected as the chief
ministerial candidate.

Buoyed by the results, an elated Congress said there
was "no stopping" the party from returning to power at the
Centre in the Lok Sabha polls.

"There is no stopping the Congress. We are very
confident of winning the next general elections," senior
Congress leader M Veerappa Moily told reporters.

Asked whether there was any chance of holding the Lok
Sabha polls early, he said the election would be held as
scheduled in April but "even in February it is possible".

The Congress, which was worried over the fallout of
the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, was relieved that it
did not have much impact on the poll outcome.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary
and Congress's chief campaigner in Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot said
that the voters had cast their votes against "Chief Minster
Raje's rule of terror" and not the Mumbai attacks.

"The common people of Rajasthan were terrorised under
Raje's rule. Now their mandate is to put her shadow of terror
behind," he said.

Gehlot, who won from Sardarpura seat in Jodhpur, is
the frontrunner in the race for chief ministership in
Rajasthan. PTI TEAM
PMR