New Delhi: It was a day of grand wins and bruising defeats. As counting ended on Tuesday for elections in five states, the Samajwadi Party (SP) surged back to power in Uttar Pradesh and the Akali Dal broke a four-decade jinx to win another term in Punjab, leaving India’s ruling Congress battered with the solace of wins in Manipur and Uttarakhand.
The Congress suffered humiliating defeats in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa, but held on to Manipur and barely scraped through in Uttarakhand.
Two ruling parties ousted, two holding on to power despite the odds and neck-and-neck in a fifth state — the electoral pastiche following the February-March polls in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa proved that the voter, weary of corruption and inflation, refused to be dazzled by either promises or star value and used only hard pragmatism in exercising choice.
The biggest popularity test since the 2009 general elections had also seen record turnouts.
India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh voted out Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which won just 80 seats, down by 126 seats since 2007.
It voted in Mulayam Singh Yadav and his SP for a fourth term in office with a triumphant mandate of 224 seats in the 403-member house.
The Congress, which tied up with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), trailed a sorry fourth with a combined tally of 37 seats. The BJP came up third with an estimated 47 seats.
Punjab went back to the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, the first time in more than 40 years that a party got a second consecutive term, with 68 seats against the Congress’ 46 in the 117-member house.
In Manipur, it was the Congress which overcame anti-incumbency to sweep the polls with a two-thirds majority in the 60-member assembly.
However, the Congress government in Goa made way for BJP rule. The Congress was decimated in the coastal state and managed to win just nine seats, while the BJP bagged 21 on its own and was ready to stake a claim along with ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party that got three seats.
It was a fight to the finish in Uttarakhand with the Congress barely managing to stay on top with 32 seats in a house of 70 and the BJP close behind at 31.
With the indecisive mandate, the BSP with three seats, smaller parties and independents with four seats may emerge as the king makers.
As pundits and voters alike tried to make sense of the scenario, all agreed that this electoral battle had left the Congress badly bruised and the famed Gandhi charisma in serious question. Questions were also raised on the credibility of the Manmohan Singh-led government.
The only silver lining for the party was Manipur, where Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh held on to power for a third time. (IANS)
