The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance decimated its political rivals in all the five States where Assembly elections are due in the next four to 18 months. Currently all these States are ruled by the BJP’s rivals.
The difference in votes polled by the BJP and its allies and the ruling combines in these States is bound to send jitters among the incumbent formations, more so as the BJP is about to form the government at the Centre with numbers that have eluded any single party in the last three decades. The term of the assemblies of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir are due to end in around six months.
As has been the case with the conduct of State Assembly elections, the Election Commission holds elections together in all the States where the gap in the tenure of the assemblies is about three to four months.
In all probability, elections to these four State assemblies are likely to be held in early October. The term of the Haryana Assembly, which is the first State where election is due after the 16th Lok Sabha election, expires on October 14. The term of the assemblies of Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir ends in January.
In Bihar, which plunged into a political crisis after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar quit on Saturday owning “moral responsibility” for the crushing defeat of his party in the Lok Sabha election, elections are due in November 2015.
In Maharashtra, which is ruled by the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine polled a whopping 47 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha election, bagging 41 of the 48 seats in the state. In contrast the Congress-NCP alliance got 34 per cent vote and just six seats. In Haryana, again under the command of the Congress, the BJP-Indian National Lok Dal together polled close to 60 per cent of votes, netting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
The tale in Jharkhand, where the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha (JMM) is running possibly the weakest minority government, is no different. The BJP alone bagged over 40 per cent of the vote share ending with a tally of 12 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the State. In contrast the JMM and the Congress together polled just about 22 per cent vote.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the BJP polled 32.4 per cent of the votes, leaving the Congress and the ruling the National Conference far behind.
