Congress is set for a resounding defeat in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh
NEW DELHI : The Congress is set for a resounding defeat in the three heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh that it wrested from the BJP barely six months ago.
In all three states, the party will not win more than 13 seats in face of a deeply entrenched BJP, an aggregate of exit polls predicted.
A similar sweep is expected in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, that saw the Congress make significant gains in the recent Assembly polls.
The Chanakya exit poll has predicted that Congress’ recent Madhya Pradesh victory in the Assembly polls will have no bearing on the Lok Sabha elections as the BJP is set to win 27 of the 29 seats.
In both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress fell a shade short of majority in last year and formed government with the support of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, the BJP will scoop up the maximum Lok Sabha seats – 22 of 25 in Rajasthan and 23 of 29 in Uttar Pradesh.
In Chhattisgarh, where the party had its most decisive victory in last year’s assembly elections, an aggregate of 10 exit polls predict the Congress will get four of the 11 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP will get seven. BJP is projected to get nine seats in Chhattisgarh as opposed to Congress’ two seats.11,BJP: 9,Congress: 2
In all three states, the Congress had gone it alone this time as well, having refused to share seats with Mayawati in the run-up to the assembly elections. In Chhattisgarh, where the Congress had its most decisive victory in last year’s assembly elections, an aggregate of 10 exit polls predict the party will get four of the 11 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP will get seven. In all three states, the Congress will not win more than 13 seats in face of a deeply entrenched BJP, an aggregate of exit polls predicted.
The assembly poll results in all three states had brought hope and boosted the Congress’s position in the opposition camp ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Though Rajasthan is known to vote out the incumbent for nearly three decades, in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has been in power for three terms. The Chief Ministers – Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chauhan had been considered among its very popular state leaders.
The results had given Congress the confidence to go it alone in the three states this time as well. Also, its refusal to share seats with Mayawati in the run-up to the assembly elections had hurt its chances for an alliance not just in the three states, but in Uttar Pradesh as well.
The Chanakya-News24 exit poll has projected that the Congress-UDF alliance will secure 16 of the 20 seats in Kerala. The BJP will fail to open its account despite of increasing its vote share to 10 percent, the poll predicted. The Left will round up the remaining four seats. The exit poll has predicted that BJP will clean sweep the states of Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi, winning all 26 seats 10 and seven seats respectively.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal tweeted: “We saw all the exit polls in 2004 too, at the time of the five state elections in 2018. Everyone was showing that the Congress losing, but everyone saw the results. Wait for May 23, the reality will emerge. Congress will certainly increase its seats, the truth of BJP’s slogans and jumlas will also be exposed.”(With Agency Inputs ).
