PM Modi talks of 'guaranteed hat-trick' in 2024 as BJP wins Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh; Congress gains Telangana

New Delhi [India], December 3 : The Bharatiya Janata Party won a "historic" mandate in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday as Congress ousted Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana in the results of four states declared on Sunday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking about the BJP scoring a hat-trick in next year's Lok Sabha polls on the lines of hat-trick it scored in state polls.
BJP ousted Congress from power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and retained Madhya Pradesh.
The results in Hindi heartland states came as a shocker to Congress and a morale-booster to BJP. Congress leaders expressed happiness over victory in Telangana and said the results in the three states were disappointing and the party will rebuild itself in these areas.
Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party will overcome "temporary setbacks" and prepare fully for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections along with the INDIA parties.
The election results again showed Congress' vulnerability to take on the BJP in a direct contest. In Telangana, the main adversary of Congress was a regional party.
The BJP improved its performance in Telangana with the party's Katipally Venakata Ramana Reddy emerging as giant-slayer, having defeated outgoing Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and state Congress chief A Revanth Reddy from the Kamareddy seat. Both KCR and Revanth Reddy contested from two seats.
The biggest BJP victory came from Madhya Pradesh where the party's final tally crossed the two-thirds majority. The BJP has won 160 seats and is leading in three seats in the 230-member house.
The victory is remarkable as BJP has ruled the state for 18 of the past 20 years with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Chief Minister for most of the period. Chouhan, fondly called "mamaji" by his supporters, helped the BJP beat perceived anti-incumbency with his welfare measures and schemes such as 'Ladli Behna'.
The Congress campaign in the state led by veteran leader and nine-time MP Kamal Nath came a cropper and the party is likely to get 65 seats. The party has won 56 seats and is leading on nine more. Some of the big guns of the Congress, including Jitu Patwari lost the polls. BJP got 48.56 per cent votes and Congress 40.40 per cent. Kamal Nath was chief minister for about 15 months before his government came down in March 2020 with Jyotiraditya Scindia leaving for BJP with his "loyalist MLAs". Scindia delivered for BJP in the election and the party won several seats in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
The Congress gave a good fight in Rajasthan, specially in the last few months, but it was not enough to prevent a BJP victory. The BJP won 115 seats to get a comfortable majority in the 200-member House.
Congress has won 68 seats and is leading on one seat in Rajasthan. The state has not repeated the government for over three decades and did not buck this trend in this election either.
The guarantees given by the Congress and the ambitious Sanjeevni scheme of the Ashok Gehlot government did not prove enough for the ruling party in the state. The BJP ran its campaign under a largely collective leadership and the past acrimony between Gehlot and former state Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot was apparently not forgotten by people.
The BJP trumped Congress in Chhattisgarh and won 53 seats in a 90-member house. The party is leading on one seat. Congress had great expectations of returning to power but Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's strategy and promises proved inadequate. The party has won 34 seats and leading on one. The Gondvana Gantantra Party (GGP) has won one seat.
The saving grace for Congress was Telangana where the party won an absolute majority for the first time on the back of an aggressive campaign to oust the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government. The BRS had been in power for the past 10 years.
The Congress has crossed the majority mark in Telangana with 64 seats in the 119-member assembly. Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) won 39 seats and BJP 8 seats. AIMIM won seven seats and one seat went to the Communist Party of India.
PM Modi and senior leaders of the BJP boosted the party's campaign with rallies and roadshows across all four states.
Many leading figures across states won the polls while some others lost.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan won from his traditional seat of Budhni by 1,04,974. Kamal Nath defeated BJP's Vivek Banti Sahu by 36,594 in Chhindwara. Ashok Gehlot won from Sadarpura by 26,396 votes and Sachin Pilot won from Tonk by 29,475 seats. BJP leader and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje won from Jhalrapatan by 53,193 votes.
Bhupesh Baghel won from Patan by 19,723 votes while his deputy TS Singh Deo lost by a narrow margin. Former Chief Minister Raman Singh won from Rajnandgaon by 45,084 votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a gathering at party headquarters on Sunday evening and spoke about the party scoring a hat-trick in next year's Lok Sabha polls.
He said the mandate in the three states has proved that there is zero tolerance against corruption, appeasement and dynastic politics.
" Voter knows that when India moves ahead then states move ahead. Every family in the country benefits from it. This is why the voter is electing BJP again and again. Some people are even saying that today's hat-trick has guaranteed the hat-trick of 2024," he said.
The BJP got an absolute majority in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The next general elections are likely to be held in April-May next year.
The Prime Minister termed BJP's victories in the three heartland states as historic and said various sections including the poor, farmers and tribal brothers and sisters were seeing it as their victory.
"Today's victory is historical and unprecedented...The idea of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' has won today. Today's victory is of a path towards developed India. It is a victory of our resolve towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. This is a victory of honest, transparent governance," he added.
PM Modi said that the echo is these results will not be limited to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but will be heard all over the world.
"Today, we are seeing the results. There is no alternative to BJP in Madhya Pradesh. BJP has been in power for two decades and even after such a long time, people's trust in BJP is increasing continuously...In the first public meeting in Chhattisgarh, I said that I had come here to invite the people of the state to our oath-taking ceremony after December 3 when we form the government here," he said.
He said the voter needs a well-defined roadmap to improve his lifestyle.
"India's voter knows that when India moves forward then the state moves forward and the life of every family improves. So, the voter is choosing the BJP continuously."
Targeting Congress, he said it is his suggestion to the party and its allies "to stop doing politics that strengthen anti-national elements and ideas to weaken the country."
Slamming opposition parties who have accused the government of misusing probe agencies, the Prime Minister said the campaign against corruption launched by the BJP's central government in the country is getting huge public support.
"Those people who are working day and night to defame the investigating agencies which have come down hard on corruption should understand that this election result is also a public support for the fight against corruption," he said.
Targeting the Congress and INDIA block, he said a lesson from the elections is that the country's trust cannot be won just by a few family members coming together on the stage.
"These election results are also a big lesson for Congress and its 'ghamandiya gathbandhan'. The lesson is that the country's trust cannot be won just by a few family members coming together on the stage. The spirit of national service that should be there to win the hearts of the people of the country is not there in the 'ghamandiya gathbandhan'".
He accused opposition parties, specially Congress, of trying to divide the country based on castes.
"..In this election, there were efforts to divide the country based on castes. I kept saying that for me, four castes are important - Nari Shakti, Yuva Shakti, Kisaan aur Gareeb Parivaar," he said.
"...I request all the BJP workers to move ahead of Modi's guarantees from today...Jahan dusron se umeed khatam hoti hai wahan se Modi ki guarantee shuru hoti hai," he said.
The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to women for their support to the BJP.
"I want to express my gratitude to the 'Nari Shakti' of the country. I would often say during my rallies that 'Nari Shakti' has decided that BJP's flag will rise high in the elections," he said.
PM Modi also said the party's bond with the people of Telangana is "unbreakable".
"Thank you for your support to the @BJP4India. Over the last few years, this support has only been increasing and this trend will continue in the times to come. Our bond with Telangana is unbreakable and we will keep working for the people. I also appreciate the industrious efforts of each and every BJP Karyakarta," he said in a post
In his reaction to the results, Congress president Mallikarjun said the Congress fought a spirited campaign in the four states.
"I thank the people of Telangana for the mandate we have received from them. I also thank all those who voted for us in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Our performance in these three states have no doubt been disappointing, but with determination, we reaffirm our strong resolve to rebuild and revive ourselves in these three states. I acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of lakhs of our workers," he said in a post on X.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party accepts the mandate given by the people of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and the battle of ideology with BJP will continue
"I am very thankful to the people of Telangana - we will fulfil the promise of making Prajalu Telangana. Heartfelt thanks to all the workers for their hard work and support," the Wayanad MP posted on X.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh said Congress has bounced back from defeats earlier too.
"Exactly 20 years ago, the Indian National Congress had lost the state elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, while winning only Delhi. But within a few months, the party bounced back and went on to emerge as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha polls and formed the government at the Centre. It is with hope, confidence and a firm sense of resolve and resilience that the Indian National Congress prepares for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA!" he said on X.
In another post he said the performance of the Indian National Congress in Telangana is a silver lining not just for the party, but also for the people of the state.
"Telangana became the 29th state of the Indian Union entirely because of the Indian National Congress, but the objectives that led to its creation have got lost these last (and lost) nine years. A Congress govt, that will very soon be in place, will give the state a new direction," he said in another post.
Elections to the four states were held last month. Elections were also held in Mizoram last month and counting of votes will be held tomorrow.