Year End 2023: From BJP’s Defeat in South to Saffron’s Conquest of Hindi Heartland
The BJP appears stronger than ever and virtually unstoppable heading into next year’s Lok Sabha elections, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears set for a third term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a political juggernaut that has overwhelmed opponents over the past decade, but despite the party’s grip on the country’s political sphere since Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrested power from the Congress-led UPA in 2014, its electoral dominance may largely be attributed to his iron grip on the hearts and minds of the Hindi heartland even as gaining a foothold in South India remains elusive for the saffron party.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP ended the year on an emphatic note as it won the Assembly elections in all three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. However, the year 2023 did not start well for the party as they were routed by the Congress in the Karnataka state assembly polls, losing their only bastion in the south and reinforcing the perception that the BJP is a party which consists only of the North and fails. will perform well in the south despite all his efforts.
As the years pass, we look at the BJP’s route in the south to conquering the Hindi heartland to end 2023 on a high note.
The Karnataka debacle
In May 2023, riding on a wave of popularity after the highly successful (and fruitful) Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress gave the BJP its first major shock ahead of next year’s general elections, pushing the saffron brigade out of the power was driven away. it is the only bastion in the south and proves that the old party could indeed defeat the BJP in a head-to-head electoral battle.
Political pundits attributed the BJP’s defeat in Karnataka to several factors including but not limited to anti-incumbency and relying heavily on the personal appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the parties’ other ‘star’ campaigns to push them through .
However, the lack of strong local leadership and perceived sidelining of party strongman and influential Lingayat leader BS Yeddyurappa would continue to haunt the BJP as they only managed to get 65 seats in the 224-seat Karnataka Legislative Assembly, a a stark contrast to the previous polls in 2018, where they won 104 seats to emerge as the largest party in the state.
On the other hand, Congress won a landslide victory, winning 135 seats, making it the biggest victory in Karnataka in terms of seats and vote share since the 1989 elections.
The BJP lost the elections by a wide margin despite Prime Minister Modi holding as many as 19 rallies and six roadshows, while BJP President JP Nadda and other top guns including Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were in the state campaigned to support the elections. the party’s prospects in the May 10 parliamentary elections
Former BJP Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in a simple reply, attributed Congress’s victory to their “well-organised” election strategy as one of the main reasons.
When asked whether the Modi and Shah factor did not work in this election, Prime Minister Basavaraj Bommai said there are several factors that determine this outcome and it can be discussed after a thorough analysis.
Some BJP leaders felt that pre-poll ‘guarantees’ announced by the Congress promising free power, rice and unemployment benefits also tilted a significant portion of voters towards the Congress. Others blamed the party for giving tickets to 75 new faces to fight the anti-incumbency party, but some of them were tainted and did not have a clean image.
The saffron conquest of the Hindi heartland
Despite starting the year with a major setback in the south, the BJP ended 2023 on a positive note as the saffron wave swept through the Hindi heartland, registering a landslide victory in Madhya Pradesh and securing a comfortable majority in both Rajasthan as Chhattisgarh. in the process of ousting arch-enemy Congress from power in the last two states while inflicting a crushing defeat on them in the first.
However, the BJP’s dream of gaining a foothold in the south remained unfulfilled as the Congress wrested power from former Prime Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, led by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana.
Despite the exit polls giving the Congress an edge, the BJP ousted the rival party from power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and retained Madhya Pradesh despite a tough position.
The results in the Hindi heartland were a shock for the Congress and a morale boost for the BJP. However, Congress leaders expressed happiness over the victory in Telangana and said the results in the three states were disappointing and the party will rebuild itself in these areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the party’s spectacular performance and said the BJP would score a hat-trick in the Lok Sabha polls next year, similar to the hat-trick it scored in state polls.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will overcome “temporary setbacks” and fully prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections along with INDIA parties.
The BJP juggernaut
The BJP completed a dominant sweep of the Hindi heartland, retaining power in Madhya Pradesh and securing comfortable majorities in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
In Madhya Pradesh, the then incumbent Shivraj Chouhan-led dispensation won a whopping 163 seats against the rival Congress’s 65, while in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan they wrested power from the old party, winning 54 and 115 seats respectively.
Exit polls had given the Congress an edge in Chhattisgarh, but the BJP proved the pollsters wrong as they had predicted on the eve of counting of votes.
Rajasthan seems to have followed the more than three-decade-old trend of rotating governments and the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot has been replaced by the BJP dispensation.
The BJP has set a record in Madhya Pradesh by once again retaining power after ruling the state for 18 of the last 20 years, while the Congress under former CM Kamal Nath – which was expected to give the ruling party an uphill battle – meekly surrendered.
Congress dethrones BRS in Telangana and destroys southern dream of BJP
The Congress convincingly won Telangana for the first time, a shock to the ruling BRS, which has been in power in India’s youngest state for the past decade. This will crush the BJP’s long unfulfilled dream of establishing itself in South India, where it currently has no power in any state.
The Congress ended with a clear majority, winning 64 seats, as it benefited from the anti-incumbency against factor against the ruling BRS, which finished in second place with 39 seats.
The victory in Karnataka in the assembly elections earlier this year enthused the Congress workers in Telangana and the party mounted a strong campaign, supported by its leaders from different parts of the country.
BJP: All guns blazing for 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Despite the disappointing and failed campaigns in the south, the BJP seems stronger than ever and almost unstoppable heading into next year’s Lok Sabha elections. Buoyed by the complete capture of the Hindi heartland, the saffron juggernaut is better prepared than last time to score yet another massive victory in the general elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking good for an undoubted third term despite opposition parties working to form a united front against him with the INDIA bloc alliance.