Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
From rural to tribal areas, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s support has significantly eroded in the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the 2018 Assembly election results show.
BJP’s vote share fell 3 percentage points in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh and 8 percentage points in Chhattisgarh compared to 2013, according to an analysis by the Mint.
This is in contrast to the trend witnessed in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP had made deep inroads in the countryside. It doesn’t help that the drop is notable despite the party’s promise of doubling farm income by 2022.
The assembly election results also show that farm distress is a potent issue and the farmers aren’t happy with the way the government has dealt with their problems.
Moreover, the Dalit and the tribal communities have not voted for the Right-wing party. According to an IndiaSpend analysis, the BJP lost 120 or 66% of the 180 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In 2013, it had won 77% of these seats.
The Congress won 111 or 62% of the reserved seats this year, up from 42 seats (23%) in 2013. The report says that this has been the BJP’s worst performance in the three states in a decade.
The BJP’s Lok Sabha seat tally in the three Hindi heartland states, Telangana and Mizoram is expected to come down from 64 in 2014 to 31 in 2019.
The question is: If the trend persists, how will BJP make up for the 33 seats that it could lose in the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year.
(With inputs from Mint and IndiaSpend)
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