NEW DELHI: The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh may not exactly be semi-final for the 2024 contest, but the outcome on Sunday will have important takeaways for BJP, Congress and other contestants. BJP had lost state polls in the four states in 2018 but in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections went on to sweep all seats in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, won 28 of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh and, in a first, four seats in Telangana where it had won just one assembly seat a few months earlier.
However, BJP did not disregard the message delivered by the voters in the states and came out with measures like reservations for “general” category and Kisan Samman Nidhi, cash assistance for crores of farmers, which helped it in the 2019 contest.
The party is certain to pay heed to the message of the current round to strengthen its platform, which has Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, the lure of his vision of a “strong and prosperous” India, welfare schemes and Hindutva as the planks.
The exit polls are divided about Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, but party leaders are confident of winning both the states and doing better than predictions in Chhattisgarh even as the party pundits are not optimistic about winning more than 8-10 seats in Telangana,where the saffron party continues to explore its foothold.
Congress, which is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and BJP, which is ruling Madhya Pradesh, are locked in a straight fight in these three states, while K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is hoping for a hat-trick in Telangana.
BJP is seeking to replicate the winning streak of Gujarat (where it has been in government since 1998) in Madhya Pradesh with four-time CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan hoping to form government again. The party is also keen to win back Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as it seeks to regain its hold in Hindi heartland states ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
However, in case of win, the immediate challenge for the saffron outfit will be to decide the next chief ministers as the party has not projected any one as its face in any of the four states.
However, BJP did not disregard the message delivered by the voters in the states and came out with measures like reservations for “general” category and Kisan Samman Nidhi, cash assistance for crores of farmers, which helped it in the 2019 contest.
The party is certain to pay heed to the message of the current round to strengthen its platform, which has Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, the lure of his vision of a “strong and prosperous” India, welfare schemes and Hindutva as the planks.
The exit polls are divided about Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, but party leaders are confident of winning both the states and doing better than predictions in Chhattisgarh even as the party pundits are not optimistic about winning more than 8-10 seats in Telangana,where the saffron party continues to explore its foothold.
Congress, which is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and BJP, which is ruling Madhya Pradesh, are locked in a straight fight in these three states, while K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is hoping for a hat-trick in Telangana.
BJP is seeking to replicate the winning streak of Gujarat (where it has been in government since 1998) in Madhya Pradesh with four-time CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan hoping to form government again. The party is also keen to win back Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as it seeks to regain its hold in Hindi heartland states ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
However, in case of win, the immediate challenge for the saffron outfit will be to decide the next chief ministers as the party has not projected any one as its face in any of the four states.