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State Elections Deal Blow to Indian National Congress State Elections Deal Blow to Indian National Congress
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NEW DELHI – State election results in four key states dealt a blow to the Indian National Congress on Sunday, signaling the waning power of the dynasty that has dominated Indian politics for nearly all the post-Independence era, and throwing momentum behind the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of general elections in May. NEW DELHI — The results of state elections in four crucial states dealt a blow to the Indian National Congress on Sunday, signaling the waning power of the dynasty that had dominated Indian politics for nearly all of the post-independence era and giving momentum to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of general elections in May.
The B.J.P.'s victories seemed largely driven by the sour anti-incumbency mood, high food prices and populist anger over corruption. In Delhi, the biggest sensation was an unexpectedly strong showing by the year-old Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, Party, whose jubilant supporters gathered outside its headquarters on Sunday morning, waving brooms to symbolize the cleansing of India’s political class. The B.J.P.'s victories seemed largely driven by the sour anti-incumbency mood, high food prices and populist anger over corruption. In Delhi, the biggest sensation was an unexpectedly strong showing by the year-old party Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, whose jubilant supporters gathered outside its headquarters on Sunday morning, waving brooms to symbolize the cleansing of India’s political class.
The results from the four states – Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – do not offer a perfect template for the general elections, since they are all states where B.J.P. has traditionally been strong. But they make it clear that Congress’s customary promises can no longer compel a younger and more urbanized electorate, and that it has failed to project an image of leadership at a time when voters crave it. The results from the four states — Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — do not offer a perfect template for the coming general elections, since they are all states where the B.J.P. has traditionally been strong. But they make it clear that the Congress Party’s welfare programs and customary promises can no longer compel a younger, urbanized electorate, and that the party has failed to project an image of leadership at a time when voters crave it.
“It is a substantial defeat for Congress,” said the historian Ramachandra Guha, as results were announced on Sunday morning. “Congress itself may learn nothing, they firewall their senior leadership from criticism even internally. But what we are learning is that the charisma of the Gandhi family is basically more or less gone.” “It is a substantial defeat for Congress,” said the historian Ramachandra Guha, as results were announced on Sunday morning. “Congress itself may learn nothing; they firewall their senior leadership from criticism even internally. But what we are learning is that the charisma of the Gandhi family is basically more or less gone,” a reference to the family that has dominated Indian political life for decades.
The results, he added, represented the voice of “a much younger group of voters who do not remember the contributions or sacrifices, real or imagined, of Indira Gandhi, the martyrdom of Rajiv Gandhi.”The results, he added, represented the voice of “a much younger group of voters who do not remember the contributions or sacrifices, real or imagined, of Indira Gandhi, the martyrdom of Rajiv Gandhi.”
Preliminary counts posted by the Election Commission showed the B.J.P. – a pro-business, Hindu nationalist party – wresting the state of Rajasthan from Congress’s hands in a landslide, winning 151 out of the state’s 200 assembly seats. Congress also performed dismally in Delhi, winning only eight of the state’s 70 assembly seats. B.J.P. won the largest number, 31. The unorthodox new entry, Aam Aadmi Party, defied expectations by securing 28 seats. Preliminary counts posted by the Election Commission on Sunday night showed the B.J.P. — a pro-business, Hindu nationalist party — wresting the state of Rajasthan from Congress’s hands in a landslide, winning 163 out of the state’s 200 assembly seats, to just 21 for Congress. The Congress Party also performed dismally in Delhi, winning only eight of the state’s 70 assembly seats. The B.J.P. won the largest number, 31, but not enough to form a government without joining a coalition.
Congress had a narrow lead in Chhattisgarh, with 45 seats to B.J.P.'s 43. And B.J.P. easily retained control in Madhya Pradesh, winning 157 of the assembly’s 230 seats, and leaving Congress with only 65. The unorthodox new entry, Aam Aadmi, defied expectations by securing 28 seats. Congress lost a tight race in Chhattisgarh, winning 40 seats to the B.J.P.'s 48. And the B.J.P. easily retained control in Madhya Pradesh, winning 163 of the assembly’s 230 seats and leaving Congress with 60.
This fall’s campaign had a new sharp tone, largely because of the B.J.P.'s aggressive new leader, Narendra Modi. At vast rallies in recent months, Mr. Modi has cast the contest as a presidential-style faceoff between two men – himself and Rahul Gandhi, the diffident scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty. This fall’s campaign had a sharp tone, largely because of the B.J.P.'s aggressive new leader, Narendra Modi. At vast rallies in recent months, Mr. Modi, a commanding speaker, has cast the contest as a presidential-style face-off between two men — himself and Rahul Gandhi, the diffident scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty. Mr. Modi, the son of a tea-stall operator, presents himself as a self-made man, sneering at Mr. Gandhi as a cosseted “shehjada,” or prince, and frequently alluding to the health problems of Mr. Gandhi’s mother, Sonia Gandhi, who remains a respected party leader.
Mr. Modi, the son of a tea-stall operator, presents himself as a self-made man, sneering at Mr. Gandhi as a “shehjada,” or prince, and frequently questioning the health of Mr. Gandhi’s mother, respected party leader Sonia Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi, for his part, has at times seemed to struggle to retain the attention of crowds at campaign rallies. As exit polls trickled in last week, journalists in Delhi began asking whether his appearances were helping or hurting his party, though they added hastily that the Gandhi-Nehru family remained at the party’s core.
A. K. Verma, a political scientist at Christ Church College in Kanpur, said that in his travels he frequently heard praise for Mr. Modi even from “die-hard supporters” of regional opposition parties that compete with the B.J.P. Mrs. Gandhi and her son made a few grave statements as the depth of Sunday’s losses sank in. An unsmiling Mrs. Gandhi said the defeat “calls for deep introspection,” including into “the way we took, or did not take, our message to the people.”
“People want a change,” Mr. Verma said. “It is less a B.J.P. edge, and more a Modi edge.” Her son, meanwhile, said he had plans for a deep transformation of the party, and seemed to dip into the rhetoric of the Aam Aadmi party, whose grass-roots campaign upended the race in Delhi.
Mr. Gandhi, for his part, has at times seemed to struggle to retain the crowd’s attention. As exit polls trickled in last week, journalists in Delhi began raising the question of whether his campaign appearances were actually benefiting Congress, though they added hastily that the Gandhi-Nehru family remains at the party’s core. “What we need to do as a party is to move ahead of just talking about good governance and move to a paradigm, to a place, where we are actually giving serious space to the common man,” he said. “I am going to put all my efforts into transforming the organization of the Congress Party.”
“There is no question of pushing the family aside,” said Hartosh Singh Bal, a journalist. “The question the party will have to ask itself is whether they will project Rahul in any real way in the next three months. The public is not responding to him as a politician.” An ebullient scene, meanwhile, was unfolding outside the headquarters of Aam Aadmi, which was ridiculed when it announced its formation with barely a year to go before the Delhi election. A giddy crowd gathered near its headquarters on Sunday, beating drums and throwing colored powder into the air. Many waved brooms, which are the party’s symbol.
The biggest upset among Sunday’s results came from Delhi. Vijay Baba, 60, a frail-looking rickshaw puller, had clambered onto his son’s shoulders. He said he had not cut his beard for two years, having vowed to wait until Aam Aadmi’s victory.
The capital has undergone much development during the 15-year tenure of Sheila Dikshit, a Congress stalwart, but also became the center of anti-corruption street protests that exposed pent-up populist rage toward India’s political class. Those protests morphed into the Aam Aadmi Party, whose fundamental message, in the words of Yogendra Yadav, one of its main strategists, was, “the Congress government is lousy, and the only alternative is A.A.P.” “We entered the ring and killed the lion,” Mr. Baba said. “It is the best day of my life.”
The message attracted many young voters and poor workers, who joined a giddy crowd on Sunday, throwing colored powder into the air to the sound of drumming. Yashpal Kashyap, 68, spoke in a voice raspy from a full day of shouting. The crowd had been chanting for hours when word filtered out that Aam Aadmi’s leader, a wonkish former tax inspector named Arvind Kejriwal, had unseated Sheila Dikshit, the Congress stalwart who has led Delhi for 15 years, by a huge margin in her home constituency, winning 44,269 votes to 18,405.
“We poor people are the most happy today,” he said. “Take it from me, no poor people voted for that liar, Sheila.” A year ago, Ms. Dikshit appeared to be a formidable opponent, credited with spearheading the city’s subway system and easing pollution by compelling buses to switch to natural gas. She was among those who had shrugged off the threat posed by the new party, as its supporters recalled gleefully on Sunday.
Vijay Baba, a frail-looking rickshaw puller, had clambered onto his son’s shoulders. He said he had not cut his beard for two years, having vowed to wait until Aam Aadmi won seats in the election, and that he now planned to make a pilgrimage to a Hindu holy site to give thanks for the party’s advances. “Sheila Dikshit told reporters some months ago that Aam Aadmi was just a monsoon pest,” said a poet, Kumar Vishwas, as he read results over a loudspeaker. “Tell me, who is the pest now?”
“We entered the ring and killed the lion,” said Mr. Baba, 60. “It is the best day of my life.” The new party clearly benefited from political changes that come with urbanization, attracting huge numbers of new migrants to Delhi who were no longer casting their vote based on caste, family or religion. Analysts have warned Congress that it is lagging behind changes in the electorate, relying too heavily on the identity politics that have secured its victories in the past.
Other voters were more measured, giving Ms. Dikshit credit for spearheading the city’s subway system, and for compelling the city’s buses to switch to compressed natural gas, alleviating pollution. “Rahul Gandhi’s rich-vs.-poor and urban-vs.-rural rhetoric does not appear to have elicited much fervor,” wrote the journalist Dileep Padgaonkar in an editorial in The Times of India on Friday. “Today’s voters, especially the younger ones, are more receptive to a discourse that harps on education and jobs, and less to one that is redolent with populism.”
“I think Congress really changed this city,” said Martha DeSouza, an executive assistant who has lived for stretches in Dubai and the United States. “But now they’ve gotten stale, which is what happens in Indian politics, so we need change.” She added that she was wary of the ascent of Mr. Modi, who is blamed by many for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots in his home state of Gujarat. Some voters, like Martha DeSouza, were measured about the coming change in governments.
“I think he’d definitely go after minorities again,” said Ms. DeSouza, a Christian. “I think Congress really changed this city,” said Ms. DeSouza, an executive assistant who has lived for stretches in Dubai and the United States. “But now they’ve gotten stale, which is what happens in Indian politics, so we need change.” She confessed some anxiety about the rise of Mr. Modi, who is blamed by many for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots in his home state, Gujarat. “I think he’d definitely go after minorities again,” said Ms. DeSouza, a Christian.
Many of those who celebrated Congress’s defeat recalled a time when they faithfully gave the party their vote. Savita Bhoj, 42, said she was originally from Gujarat, where Mr. Modi serves as chief minister, and saw him gradually expanding his influence to encompass the whole country. Others were simply thrilled. Ram Raj, 50, said he had been deeply disillusioned by watching welfare programs promoted by Congress, saying corrupt officials are freely siphoning off money.
“The Congress is completely useless,” she said, with a dismissive gesture. “We voted for Indira Gandhi when she was there. The times were good then. She took care of the people, the poor people. There wasn’t so much corruption then. Now there is a scam every other day.” “I am very happy that Congress is out of power,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know if B.J.P. will do a much better job, but there was a real need for change.” He said he had been persuaded by Mr. Modi’s development record in Gujarat. “I don’t agree with one family being in power again and again,” he said. “I don’t think Rahul is a bad person, but he has not connected with people. I don’t feel close to his message. He goes to all these villages and tries to connect with the people, which shows he is trying, but I don’t think it’s coming from the heart.”

Max Bearak, Malavika Vyawahare and Sai Manish contributed reporting.

 

Reporting was contributed by Max Bearak, Sai Manish, Betwa Sharma and Malavika Vyawahare.