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On Cong defeat in 3 states, Kerala CM blames ‘greed & lust for power’
BJP, in a landslide victory, swept off three Hindi heartland states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh on Sunday.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday took a dig at the Congress party saying its “greed and lust for power” led to its defeat in three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. According to Vijayan, the grand old party's resistance to joining forces with other INDIA alliances led to their current loss in these states.
“Congress thought it was competent to win against the BJP on its own and therefore, did not join forces with the other INDIA alliance parties in these states to present a united front against the saffron party…Had they joined hands with the other parties, this would not have been the result. They were greedy and lusted for power. They wanted it all for themselves,” the Kerala CM said during a press briefing.
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He added, “Congress leader Digvijay Singh had offered to share seats with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Madhya Pradesh, but Kamal Nath was against it and in such a situation, the party leadership ought to have intervened…But they did not. In Rajasthan too, Congress declined to work together with other secular parties, including the CPI(M)."
Speaking about whether his party CPI(M) needed the Congress to win in the three states, Vijayan said, “The issue was to defeat the BJP…For that, we all needed to be united.”
The BJP ousted incumbent Congress from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and retained Madhya Pradesh with a landslide victory. This led to the saffron party tightening its hold in the Hindi heartland and gave a big boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
With an absolute majority in the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, the BJP won 54 seats while the Congress trailed at 35 seats. In Rajasthan, the saffron party won a total of 115 out of 199 seats. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP managed to stave off anti-incumbency after winning 163 seats in the 230-member assembly. However, the BJP bagged only eight seats in the 119-member Telangana assembly as Congress won the southern state by ousting K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
Meanwhile, the BJP won only two seats in Mizoram. According to the Election Commission (EC) data, BJP candidate K Hrahmo won the Palak Assembly constituency, while K Beichhua won the Saiha Assembly seat.
