Bhopal: The verdict is out. It is 'Modi-Mama' magic all the way in Madhya Pradesh. While political pundits will continue to rack their brains for many more days over reasons for the resounding victory for the BJP, results make one thing clear that overwhelming support from women voters for Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 'Ladli Behna Yojna' and the last mile connect with voters hugely benefited the saffron party.
Shivraj Singh, who is affectionately called 'Mama', won the election by more than 1 lakh votes from Budhni seat this time. He summed up the impressive show of his party, saying, "It is the pro-incumbency wave. Rising above faith and caste, sisters voted for the party."
With this victory, the BJP reign, barring a short break of 15 months, will stretch for more than 23 years in Madhya Pradesh.
So, what went wrong for the Congress, which was pinning its hopes on a major victory in the state and, triggering of revival of fortunes for the grand old party in the Hindi heartland in this election.
In 2018 elections for the 230-member House, the Congress won 114 seats, which were five more than the 109 by the BJP.
In 2018, there was a huge improvement in Congress seat tally from the previous polls, resulting in the party staging a comeback and forming the government. In 2018, the BJP had lost 56 seats compared to the 2013 Vidhan Sabha elections.
Clearly, this time the Congress state leadership misread the voters' mood, resulting in its rout and worst dismal performance in more than 30 years.
Congress leaders and workers were active in their respective areas for more than three months and tried hard to change the narrative by harping on massive unemployment, reintroduction of old pension scheme and better deal for tribals if voted to power. But nothing worked.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge vigorously campaigned for the party candidates across the state. In most of the rallies addressed by Rahul and Priyanka, the turnout was good, but it failed to translate into votes. Obviously, the Congress was unable to beat the saffron party in the battle of perception.
One can find answers for this in BJP's strong and committed organisational network across the state. There were unexpected setbacks for the BJP too. Among the BJP stalwarts, who faced defeat in this election are home minister Narrotam Mishra and Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste. Kulaste is among the 7 MPs who were fielded by the BJP to beat the anti-incumbency.
The irony is only a day ago, the Congress workers were in a jubilant mood and Kamal Nath's posters sprang up around the PCC office in Bhopal. But on the counting day as trends poured in, the euphoria gave way to disappointment. At a joint press conference, Kamal Nath said, "We accept the decision of the electorate."
