. =0 % > > > VRGR '%&((!1#VCEB R BP A"'!#$#1!$"#0$"T utqBVQWBuxy( (&>!("17?< ( 1 / 0* 2 304 1'+1*33A (? 4 , ( '(*/'13*'(,B ! " # ""#$!#% %#%#% 4 46('3& '&"'03(6 "4 @'0 (, "5'& &4 4 & 541' #&#%%# C,* $)!-8D((= EFE C( %( . 4. # 754567?@ 7 R R %% "13(, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is s the Congress almost 77< 768 seen as a contender for the Areached near the half-way chief ministership, was evasive $ ## & /0 ,1' ) Congress leaders that they will reflect the extent of the mark in the Madhya Pradesh when asked by reporters as to get an invite from the Raj Congress gain. In both Madhya Assembly polls, the next con- :5; &"(:<; who would be occupying the he BJP’s moral-shattering Bhavan only after the Election Pradesh and Rajasthan, the test within the party is the top post. “Let the result come Tdefeat in the saffron bas- Commission had declared the BJP had secured over 10 per choice of the Chief Minister. jubilant since Tuesday morning first,” he said, adding, “We will tions of Rajasthan and final result. cent more vote than the With 114 seats in victory or when the early trends showed an create an environment of peace, Chhattisgarh and its failure to At midnight, the Congress Congress in the 2013 Assembly lead, the Congress is two seats edge to the Congress. A big LED justice, and development if we reach the halfway mark in was ahead on 114 seats and the polls. Bridging the gap and below the magic figure of 116 screen was placed at the PCC come to power in Madhya Madhya Pradesh has placed the BJP on 110. Results of around going ahead in such scenario is in the 230-seat Assembly. The office and the party workers and Pradesh,” Scindia added. Congress on a much-needed half-a-dozen seats were still not an easy task unless there is BJP, under the leadership of leaders remained glued to the The Congress, which has revival path and thrown the awaited. But the possibility of a massive undercurrent against Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has screen throughout the day. been trying to dislodge the next year’s Lok Sabha contest the Congress forming a the ruling party. given the spirited In the afternoon, Kamal three-term BJP Government in wide open. The Congress’ suc- Government looked bright The results show that anti- challenge to the Congress by Nath, former Chief Minister the State, expressed confidence cess in the three crucial Hindi since the Governor was bound incumbency — both against winning 110 seats, 6 short of Digvijay Singh and Congress that the party would cross the heartland States will also firm- to invite it fist to prove its the State Governments and the majority mark. parliamentarian Jyotiraditya majority mark. ly establish the leadership of majority, which it could do against the Centre worked PCC chief Kamal Nath has Scindia reached the PCC and “As I said, the Congress is Rahul Gandhi and help him with the help of the indepen- decisively in favour of the convened a meeting of the reviewed the polls results. winning. We are going to get shed the numerous pejorative dent MLAs. Congress and helped it demol- newly-elected Congress candi- There was no clear majority for full majority,” Madhya Pradesh tags so often hurled on him by When Kamal Nath wrote ish the BJP’s strongholds. dates at the PCC headquarters the Congress, but the senior Congress Committee chief his critics. to the Governor, around the The setback will haunt the at 4 pm on Wednesday. leaders discussed the possibil- Kamal Nath said. While Chhattisgarh and same time, Prime Minister BJP like a dreadful nightmare The Congress camp was ity of forming a Government. Continued on Page 4 Rajasthan were smooth sail Narendra Modi came out with in the run-up to the Lok Sabha for the Congress, MP turned a series of tweets which virtu- polls for more than one reason. out to be a cliffhanger. The ally showed that he had accept- To start with, in all the three counting went well over 16 ed the defeat. States the “minorities” con- hours and the leads kept chang- The PM tweeted, “Victory sisted of mere six to seven per ing. In the end, the Congress and defeat are an integral part cent vote, far below the per- !!! virtually shattered Chief of life. Today’s results will fur- centage of the Muslim vote in Minister Shivraj Singh ther our resolve to serve peo- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, 4('54 deep-rooted corruption in the Chouhan’s dream for a record ple and work even harder for Jharkhand, etc. The outcome rank and file of the BJP fourth term by pushing the BJP the development of India.” shows the success of Rahul’s he Congress, which was out Government scripted its crush- to second spot in a hung In another tweet, the pursuit of “soft Hindutva” as Tof power for 15 years in ing defeat. House. Even as the Congress Prime Minister said, “We well the failure of the BJP in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh, The Congress bagged a Analysts say the Congress’ had either won or was leading accept the people’s mandate reviving the Hindu frenzy by staged a stunning comeback on two-third majority in the 90- promise to write off bank loans in 114 seats, two short of with humility. I thank the peo- raking up the issue of Ram Tuesday, courtesy a key member State Assembly. of farmers within 10 days of majority, State Congress chief ple of Chhattisgarh, Madhya temple in a big way. promise to waive bank loans to Former Chief coming to power and give a Kamal Nath wrote to the Pradesh and Rajasthan for giv- The Congress strategy was millions of farmers who are Minister Ajit Jogi, massive hike in minimum sup- Governor at 10.30 pm, staking ing us the opportunity to serve two-fold: Consolidate minori- reeling under steep debts. who aligned with port price (MSP) and slash claim for forming a these States. The BJP ty vote bank and make sure The BJP bit the dust in its the BSP and the power tariff up to 50 per cent Government and claiming the Governments in these States that the BJP does not succeed bastion as it refused to hon- CPI in a bid to win were the prime reasons for the backing of newly-elected inde- worked tirelessly for the welfare in polarising the Hindu vote in our its commitment to help a few seats to use it as Congress win and the downfall pendent MLAs. Governor of the people.” its favour. out farmers in a State which a bargaining chip in the of BJP’s longest serving Chief Anandi Ben Patel told the The final tally may not Continued on Page 4 is categorised as the rice case of a hung Assembly, Minister Raman Singh, who bowl of the country. was left high and dry began his political career in Political analysts admit- because of the landslide 1983 as a councillor. P ted that the arrogance and victory of the Congress. Continued on Page 4 " #$ ! "!# & /0 ,1' creation. In fact, TDP, which &'( $ )*+, had 15 MLAs in the dissolved Chandrasekhar Rao passed Assembly, could win just 2 Kthe Assembly poll test with seats even as it contested 13 & /0 ,1' ! flying ‘pink’ colour on Tuesday seats in all. as his much-trumpeted ‘sops KCR lost no time in espite last minute blitzkrieg story’ thumped the Congress- announcing his intention of Dby Prime Minister ('2(/, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) delving into national politics Narendra Modi, the BJP lost the combine’s ‘sob story’ about now that he is firmly in the sad- Rajasthan Assembly election, he Mizo National Front India’s youngest revenue-sur- experience for the Congress. dle in the State. Also, having failing to break the trend which T(MNF) on Tuesday script- plus State having been turned Working overtime to not taken Chandrababu Naidu’s continues in the State for the ed a spectacular victory in into a major debtor by the stitch up a mahagath- “meddling” in Telangana pol- past 20 years. nearly 30 per cent votes despite Mizoram, uprooting the Telangana Rashtra Samithi bandhan to take on itics lightly, he has already As per results, the take a call on the CM face by losing on all seats in last par- Congress in its last bastion in (TRS) chief. the BJP’s might in the cautioned the TDP chief Congress is set to form the Wednesday. Gehlot is seen as a liamentary elections. the North-East to return to The Congress-led grouping 2019 Lok Sabha poll, it about his plans to Government in the State as the clear front-runner. Chief Minister Vasundhara power after 10 years. named itself the People’s Front should know the com- extract revenge. party has won over 99 seat of The voting share analysis Raje, Sachin Pilot and Ashok The MNF won 26 seats in Governor told but the masses went with KCR, plexities at the region- In Telangana, it the 199 seat while the BJP man- shows the BJP’s votes have Gehlot have all won their the 40-member Assembly, a Zoramthanga that he was as Rao is popularly known, and al levels, that too, was KCR’s sop dis- aged to retain only 73 seats. The fallen from 45.2 per cent in respective seats of Jhalrapatan, gain of 21 seats since 2013. yet to receive the official gave him a second term at the involving regional satraps. tribution-cum- BSP, CPI (Marxist) and others 2013 to 38.8 per cent now.