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India Today
a day ago
- Politics
- India Today
Why INDIA bloc's bypoll scoreline is a warning bell for Congress
The June 23 bypoll results across five assembly constituencies in four states have been hailed in some quarters as a strong showing by the INDIA bloc, with the alliance winning four of the five seats it Congress, in particular, is celebrating its capture of Nilambur in Kerala from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), despite internal rumblings involving senior leader Shashi Tharoor. Whether Tharoor was sidelined or chose to stay away from the campaign remains a matter of grabbed national attention, however, was the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) victory in Visavadar, Gujarat, a state ruled by the BJP and the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite being decimated in the Delhi elections earlier this year, where Arvind Kejriwal lost his own seat, AAP managed to clinch two bypoll victories: Visavadar and Ludhiana West in Punjab, a state ruled by the party. These wins offer Kejriwal some hope of political beneath the optics of a 4-1 scoreline, the picture is far less flattering for the INDIA bloc. It's a story of entrenchment rather than expansion, and of the Congress's continuing erosion even in victory. Of the four wins, three came in states where alliance partners are already in power. In three of the four Opposition victories, allied parties gained vote-share not by eating into the BJP's support but by cannibalising Congress The BJP governs only Gujarat, holds a distant second position in West Bengal, and remains a marginal player in Punjab and Kerala. In the bypolls, AAP held its ground in Punjab, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) did the same in West Bengal, and the Congress won a seat in Kerala under unusual circumstances. These results do not signal any meaningful breach into BJP-dominated Gujarat, the BJP increased its vote-share in Kadi, from 53 per cent to 59 per cent, retaining the seat comfortably. Even in Visavadar, which it lost to AAP, the BJP's vote share dipped only marginally from 40.36 per cent to 39.24 per cent. The party has historically underperformed in this seat, having failed to win it since West Bengal's Kaliganj, the TMC reinforced its dominance, increasing its vote-share from 53.35 per cent to 55.15 per cent. The BJP, its main challenger, saw a slight dip, from 30.91 per cent to 28.21 per cent. This will likely boost chief minister Mamata Banerjee's confidence as the state heads into assembly elections next Ludhiana West followed a similar trend. AAP improved its vote-share from 34.8 per cent to 39.01 per cent. But again, this gain came largely at the expense of the Congress, not the BJP. Once a Congress bastion, the party had secured over 50 per cent of the votes in 2012 and 2017, but now finds itself at 27.22 per cent, down slightly from 28.3 per cent in Congress's slide is even more pronounced in Gujarat. In Visavadar, it held 54.69 per cent of the votes in 2017, fell to 11.57 per cent in 2022, and now trails behind both AAP and BJP at 3.7 per cent. In Kadi, the party's vote-share has dropped consistently, from 46.2 per cent in 2017 to 39.37 per cent in 2022, and 35.9 per cent now. Meanwhile, the BJP's vote-share has risen steadily to 59.39 per the Congress's win in Nilambur comes with caveats. In 2021, the LDF's P.V. Anvar narrowly defeated the Congress with 46.9 per cent votes as against 45.34 per cent. In the latest bypoll, the Congress won with 44.17 per cent, despite a decline in vote-share, thanks to Anvar's switch to the TMC. His 11.23 per cent haul split the anti-Congress vote, dragging the LDF down to 37.88 per cent and inadvertently helping the Congress secure the ahead, assembly elections are due early next year in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. The INDIA bloc is unlikely to contest as a united front in most of these states. Only in Tamil Nadu is an alliance likely to hold firm, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) maintaining a clear lead over the BJP. In West Bengal, TMC still has the upper the Congress, the stakes are the highest. A win in Kerala after a decade would boost morale and give the party control over three southern states, besides Karnataka and Telangana. However, such gains would remain confined to the Congress and not significantly expand the INDIA bloc's national in Assam and Puducherry does the Congress directly challenge the BJP. It is in these two states that the INDIA bloc has a real chance to contain the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but that hinges entirely on the Congress's ability to Opposition may have found a formula for protecting existing territories. But without the Congress's revival as a pan-Indian force capable of winning new ground, the alliance remains a defensive arrangement rather than an offensive weapon. The real winner on June 23 wasn't the INDIA bloc, it was the status to India Today Magazine- Ends
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
AAP withdraws from Delhi mayoral elections, accuses BJP of undemocratic tactics to gain control of MCD
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday announced that it will not field candidates for the upcoming mayor and standing committee elections in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The mayoral elections are set to be held on April 25. The AAP accused the BJP of resorting to undemocratic tactics to wrest control of the civic body, despite losing the popular mandate in the December 2022 elections. The BJP now has 117 seats in the MCD Assembly after several defections from other parties, while the AAP has 113. The Congress has eight, and 12 councillors have been elected as MPs, leaving their seats vacant. AAP's Delhi convenor Saurabh Bharadwaj described the BJP as desperate in their need to cling to power in Delhi, and accused it of manipulating democratic processes. 'We have been witnessing the BJP's desperation for power in Delhi for many years now,' he said. 'In March 2022, just before the MCD elections were to be announced at 5 pm, the Centre and the L-G office stalled the State Election Commission's press conference. They asked that elections not be held immediately and demanded that delimitation be carried out first. Their only goal was to delay elections because they knew they would lose badly.' Bharadwaj alleged that the delimitation exercise was strategically skewed. 'Each and every ward was carved to benefit the BJP. AAP strongholds were merged into one ward, while BJP-dominated areas were broken into multiple smaller wards to increase their count. Despite this, when elections were finally held on December 4, AAP still won 134 seats, while the BJP managed only 104.' Recalling the chaos during the mayoral and standing committee elections, he said, 'The situation became so ugly that microphones were broken, slogans were shouted, and even the mayor was attacked. The Supreme Court had to intervene and clarify that nominated aldermen cannot vote in mayoral elections. The BJP was exposed before the country.' Leader of Opposition Atishi accused the BJP of undermining democracy through coercion and manipulation. 'Wherever the BJP loses elections — whether it is Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, or Maharashtra — they try to form governments through the backdoor using all possible means: money, muscle, manipulation,' she said. Atishi also criticised the last-minute delimitation ahead of the 2022 MCD elections, which reduced the number of wards from 272 to 250. 'This was done to delay the elections and schedule them on the same dates as the Gujarat Assembly polls, where AAP was also contesting — clearly to weaken our campaign in both states.' Despite AAP securing a majority, Atishi claimed the BJP continued attempts to destabilise the party's control in the MCD. 'Their every effort to break our councillors failed — until recently. After persistent pressure, they have now managed to get a majority in the MCD House.' Explaining why the AAP is stepping back from the mayoral race, she said, 'To win now, we would have to indulge in the same kind of politics — breaking and buying councillors — and that is not what we stand for. We refuse to be a part of that game.' 'Now that they have their 'triple-engine sarkar' — at the Centre, the state, and now in the MCD — we expect them to fulfil all their promises. The AAP will continue to be a strong and vigilant Opposition in the MCD, just as we are in the Delhi Assembly.' The BJP meanwhile announced its candidates for the mayoral elections: Raja Iqbal Singh, Leader of Opposition at the MCD Assembly; and Jai Bhagwan Yadav, Deputy Leader of Opposition, respectively, for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor.
