Assembly Elections: Who Won Big? Who Lost Out?
A resurgent Congress made significant gains in the Assembly elections, dealing a body blow to the BJP.
A resurgent Congress wrested the Hindi heartland – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the just concluded Assembly elections.
The failure of the BJP in the three crucial states threw wide open the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which until a few months ago appeared to be in the grip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. Here are some of the big winners and losers:
RAJASTHAN
BIG WINNERS
1. SACHIN PILOT
President of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee and son of prominent state Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, Sachin Pilot won his seat from Tonk with a margin of more than 54,000. He is one of the contending candidates for the post of chief minister in the state.
2. ASHOK GEHLOT
Although the Congress is yet to take a call on its CM face, two-time chief minister Ashok Gehlot could well take over the reins from Vasundhara Raje. Currently an All India Congress Committee general secretary, Gehlot has been deployed by the party in crucial roles at the national level.
3. CP JOSHI
CP Joshi, 68, is a veteran Congress leader who is back in Nathdwara seat in Rajsamand district from where he won his first assembly election 38 years ago in 1980. He defeated BJP’s Mahesh Pratap Singh by 16,940 votes.
4. GULAB CHAND KATARIA
State home minister Gulab Chand Kataria retained his Udaipur seat by defeating Congress’ Girija Vyas.
BIG LOSERS
1. MANVENDRA SINGH
Congress candidate Manvendra Singh lost to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the Jhalarapatan assembly constituency. Singh who had left the party in September and joined the Congress on October 17.
2. OTARAM DEWASI
Rajasthan's Gaupalan Minister Otaram Dewasi has lost the Sirohi seat to independent candidate Sanyam Lodha with a margin of 10,253 votes. He is India’s first cow minister.
3. YOONUS KHAN
BJP’s only Muslim candidate, Yoonus Khan, embarrassingly lost to Congress’ Sachin Pilot in Tonk constituency.
MADHYA PRADESH
BIG WINNERS
1. SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has won from his traditional Budhni seat by a margin of 58,999 votes, defeating former Union minister and senior Congress leader Arun Yadav. Chouhan had won the seat in 2013 with a margin of 84,805 votes.
2. JAIVARDHAN SINGH
Son of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh won Raghogarh constituency with 46,697 votes.
3. AKASH KAILASH VIJAYVARGIYA
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s son Aakash wins from Indore-3 constituency with a margin of 7,000 votes.
BIG LOSERS
1. JAYANT MALLAIYA
State finance minister Jayant Mallaiya was behind by over 1,000 votes in the Damoh seat. He was trailing Congress’ Rahul Singh at last count.
2. ARCHANA CHITNIS
Education minister Archana Chitnis was also trailing in Burhanpur seat by a margin of over 5,000 votes. An independent candidate, Thakur Surendra Singh, is likely to best the BJP leader.
TELANGANA
BIG WINNERS
1. K CHANDRASEKHA RAO
Caretaker CM of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao, won his seat of Gajwel with 51,515 votes. He now aspires to enter national politics.
2. K TARAKA RAMARAO
Son of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, KT Ramarao, retained Siricilla constituency.In case KCR focuses on Delhi politics, KTR might be projected as the future CM of Telangana.
3. HARISH RAO
Nephew of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, Harish Rao, managed to retain Siddipet constituency for the sixth time.
4. AKBARUDDIN OWAISI (AIMIM)
Brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Akbaruddin Owaisi, retained Chandrayangutta constituency for the fifth time. He will be playing a crucial role in the TRS-AIMIM partnership.
BIG LOSERS
1. REVATH REDDY
Considered Congress' firebrand leader, Revath Reddy, lost his seat in Kodangal constituency to TRS candidate P Narender Reddy.
2. L LAXMAN
The BJP’s State President, L Laxman, lost his Musheerbad seat by more than 10,000 votes.
CHHATTISGARH
BIG WINNERS
1. RAMAN SINGH
Fighting to get a fourth term, Raman Singh contested the elections on the back of good governance and development in the state. The three time chief minister won against former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon by almost 17,000 votes.
2. TS SINGH DEO
Leader of Opposition TS Singh Deo won from the Ambikapur constituency by a margin of 33,000 votes. He defeated Anurag Singh Deo of the BJP.
3. AJIT JOGI
Former Chief Minister and Chhattisgarh Janata Congress (CJC) chief Ajit Jogi won the election from Bilaspur’s Marwahi Assembly constituency by over 45,000 votes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had fielded Archana Porte, while the Congress has fielded Gulab Singh Raj. The Marwahi seat falls in Bilaspur district of the state and is considered as a bastion of the Ajit Jogi family.
4. BHUPESH BAGHEL
Baghel, the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee chief, is seen as one of the contenders for the chief minister's post. He won from the Patan Assembly contituency by defeating BJP’s Motilal Sahu by over 28,000 votes.
BIG LOSERS
1. AMAR AGRAWAL
Chhattisgarh commerce minister Amar Agarwal lost to Shailesh Pande of the Congress in the Bilaspur segment by more than 11,000 votes. Agarwal was one of the many BJP ministers that lost.
2. RAJESH MUNAT
PWD minister Rajesh Munat was defeated by 12,000 margin votes in Raipur (West) constituency by the Congress party’s Vikas Upadhyay.
MIZORAM
BIG WINNERS
1. R LALZIRLIANA
R Lalzirliana of the Mizo National Front managed to edge past R Lalthatluanga, an Independent, by just over 180 votes.
2. ZORAMTHANGA
Mizo National Front (MNF) supremo Zoramthanga is all set to be the next chief minister as MNF made a clean sweep in Mizoram. He defeated K Sapdanga, an Independent, by close to 2,500 votes.
3. NIHAR KANTI CHAKMA
Nihar Kanti Chakma of Indian National Congress edged past Kina Ranjan Chakma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by close to 1,400 votes.
BIG LOSERS
1. LAL THANAWALA
In a major set back to the Congress, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla lost in both Champhai South and Serchhip constituencies.
He lost from Champhai South seat to Mizo National Front's TJ Lalnuntluanga by 1,049 votes. He lost Serchhip by 770 votes to independent candidate Lalduhoma.
2. HIPHEI
Congress fielded its sitting MLA, Hiphei, from the Palak constituency. He lost to Congress’ Kt Rokhaw, who managed to wrestle the seat away from the incumbent Hiphei by a margin of over 1,000 votes.
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