New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the ‘Janta Janardan’ Sunday after it became clear that the BJP had taken an unassailable lead in the heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, over nearest rival Congress.
The results in these states, he posted on social media platform X (previously Twitter), “indicate that the people of India are firmly with politics of good governance and development, which the BJP stands for”.
We bow to the Janta Janardan.
The results in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan indicate that the people of India are firmly with politics of good governance and development, which the @BJP4India stands for.
I thank the people of these states for their unwavering…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 3, 2023
The Prime Minister thanked the people for their “unwavering support” and assured his party “will keep working tirelessly for their well-being”.
To the voters of Telangana – where the BJP bettered its 2018 tally – Modi said the support for his party would only increase in the future.
“Our bond with Telangana is unbreakable and we will keep working for the people,” he said of the state where the BJP was leading in eight seats at 6.15 pm Sunday. The BJP had won only one seat in the state in 2018.
Following the counting of votes Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to X to say that he humbly accepted the mandate in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. Gandhi said that the “battle of ideology” in these heartland states would continue for the Congress.
Telangana was the only state of the four where results were announced Sunday, which the Congress is winning, defeating incumbent Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by CM K. Chandrashekar Rao. According to the latest trends, the Congress had bagged 64 constituencies against the BRS’s 40 in the 119-seat Assembly.
There was a bipolar contest between the BJP and the Congress in the key states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh – a showdown that was projected as a semi-final before the 2024 general elections.
The Congress had won all three states in the 2018 Assembly polls, but ceded Madhya Pradesh to the BJP two years later following the defection by senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in 2020.
‘Humbly accept’
In his X post Sunday, Gandhi thanked the people of Telangana where Congress defeated BRS. “We will definitely fulfil the promise of making “Prajalu (people’s) Telangana,” he posted on X.
मध्य प्रदेश, छत्तीसगढ़ और राजस्थान का जनादेश हम विनम्रतापूर्वक स्वीकार करते हैं – विचारधारा की लड़ाई जारी रहेगी।
तेलंगाना के लोगों को मेरा बहुत धन्यवाद – प्रजालु तेलंगाना बनाने का वादा हम ज़रूर पूरा करेंगे।
सभी कार्यकर्ताओं को उनकी मेहनत और समर्थन के लिए दिल से शुक्रिया।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2023
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the party’s performance in the three states “have no doubt been disappointing”.
“… but with determination, we reaffirm our strong resolve to rebuild and revive ourselves in these three states,” he said, adding, “We will overcome temporary setbacks and prepare ourselves fully for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections along with the INDIA [Opposition bloc] parties”.
Stating that Congress fought a “spirited campaign” in all three states, Kharge also thanked the people of Telangana for the positive mandate for his party.
Also read: How BJP overcame the Gehlot welfare model & its own infighting to triumph in Rajasthan