Mamata Banerjee Reacts to BJP’s Victory in Three States

The Congress party’s losses in three Assembly elections in the Hindi heartland have sparked discussions and concerns among the opposition bloc in India. Allies of the Congress have pointed out that the party’s decision to contest the elections independently resulted in a division of votes, ultimately benefiting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Mamata Banerjee, the chief of the Trinamool Congress, attributed the Congress’ defeat to the lack of seat-sharing arrangements with other opposition parties. She emphasized that it was a “defeat of the Congress, not the people.” Akhilesh Yadav, the president of the Samajwadi Party, also responded to the Congress’ defeats and suggested that regional parties should take the lead in challenging the BJP in areas where they have influence.

Banerjee further stated, “Congress has won Telangana. They would have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. Some votes were cut by other opposition parties. This is the truth. We had suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of the division of votes.” She emphasized the importance of both ideology and strategy, adding that a seat-sharing arrangement could prevent the BJP from coming to power in 2024.

Banerjee expressed confidence that the opposition alliance would learn from its mistakes and work together to rectify them ahead of the general elections next year. She said, “We will learn from the mistakes.”

The Congress party suffered defeats in three heartland states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan – while managing to win only one seat in Mizoram. Many have attributed these losses to the fact that Congress and its allies contested separately on several seats, resulting in a division of votes that ultimately benefited the BJP.

The alliance talks between the opposition parties were further strained by remarks made by Kamal Nath, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, towards Akhilesh Yadav. The Samajwadi Party spokesperson, Manoj Yadav Kaka, blamed these “undignified remarks” for the Congress’ loss.

Akhilesh Yadav acknowledged the long battle ahead to defeat a party like the BJP and emphasized the need to fight their strategies with discipline. He also stressed the importance of supporting parties in regions where they are strong and expressed optimism for the 2024 polls, stating that there would be a change.

As the election results unfolded, allies of the Congress began criticizing the party’s decision to not contest the elections together. KC Tyagi of the Janata Dal-United stated that the Congress “ignored other opposition parties but was unable to win on its own.” Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala and a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), emphasized the need to fight together against the BJP in the Hindi heartland. Sanjay Raut, a leader of the Shiv Sena, suggested that the outcome of the Madhya Pradesh polls would have been different if the Congress had shared seats with other members of the opposition bloc.

An anonymous senior leader from a major opposition party suggested that the Congress may have been waiting for the election results to gain greater bargaining power within the opposition bloc. However, with the party’s gamble not paying off, the Congress now finds itself on the backfoot ahead of the next meeting of the opposition bloc.