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since 1984 when the Congress won 83 past ally, the JD(U), and a huge tally in won only five seats in the Northeast
of 85 seats. Uttar Pradesh despite going nearly solo. and secured the second position in 22
The BJP also improved its vote share The DMK, which left the UPA alliance seats in 2014. Except for Sikkim, the
in states where it did not have a sub- last year, was wiped out of Tamil Nadu, Congress was at top two positions in all
stantial presence, with vote shares of 22 while the NCP went from eight seats the seats.
per cent in Odisha, 17 per cent in West in Maharashtra to four. The Rashtriya The Congress continues to re-
Bengal and over 10 per cent in Kerala. Janata Dal was the only ally that per- main weak in nine states, including
Kerala is now the only big state where formed comparatively and surprisingly Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal,
the party does not have an MP, while well, winning four seats in Bihar. where the regional parties have taken
the Congress has no MPs in Gujarat, Now the major fight for the Con- commanding positions. These states
Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi, gress remains in the 10 states of account for 291 parliamentary seats —
Odisha, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, more than half of parliamentary seats.
The BJP consolidated its position in Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, The Congress won just 10 seats and
states where it has grown strong, shut- Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan. stood second in 48 in 2014. The poli-
ting the Congress entirely out of Gujarat These states contribute to 224 of the tics in these states revolves around the
and Rajasthan and almost entirely out 543 parliamentary seats. Of the 224, the regional and caste-oriented parties,
of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Congress won only 29 seats and ended and present the biggest challenge for
Congress lost 37 seats between Tamil at the second position in 154 seats in the the Congress.
Nadu and Andhra Pradesh alone, two last general election. While Congress has not much to
states that it had done well in 2009. Among these 10 states, Maharashtra lose and only to gain because 44 was
Two of the BJP’s main allies — the was the only state where the Congress, its lowest ever tally. The BJP dream of
Shiv Sena and the TDP — performed which was in alliance with the Nation- “Congress mukt Bharat” remains a dis-
strongly, while the Akali Dal did not do alist Congress Party (NCP), held a major tant reality and its for the BJP to be wary
that well in Punjab and ceded space to share of seats. The Congress contested of Congress in the 2019 elections! Rely-
the Aam Aadmi Party. The Congress only 26 of the 48 seats while the NCP ing on “nationalism” in the wake of air-
won four seats out of 13 from Punjab fought the remaining 22. The Congress strikes, the jingoism alone may not be
despite the Moidi wave. Subsequently recently displaced the BJP in Madhya enough to revive the Modi wave in 2019.
in 2017 elections to state assembly, the Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. The comfort for the BJP is that Naren-
Congress led by Capt Amarinder Singh The 16 smaller states and Union Territo- dra Modi remains the tallest leader in
won convincingly from Punjab. ries (UTs), including Himachal Pradesh, the country and the best bet.
The BJP had won 22 seats in Bi- Uttarakhand, Goa, and the Northeast
har despite going without its major hold 28 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress letters@tehelka.com

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