The much-awaited anti-incumbency was in full force in all the five States – Rajashtan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram – where Assembly elections were held in various phases during the past three weeks.

As predicted by exit polls, the BJP has been voted out of power in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, something which hasn’t gone down well with the party’s top-brass and think-tank which immediately went into thinking mode. In Telangana, Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) president and incumbent chief-minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao led his party to a memorable triumphant as his party humbled the Congress-TDP combine as well as the BJP by winning 88 out of the 119 seats, thus gaining an absolute two-thirds majority.

In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front (MNF) ousted Congress from power and relegated the latter to sit in the opposition ranks. MNF won an impressive tally of 26 seats in the 40-member Legislative Assembly.

Riding high on the anti-incumbency wave, Congress president Rahul Gandhi managed to pull out a ‘Houdini Act’ as his spirited campaign resulted in evicting the BJP from power in three major States – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in the ‘Hindi belt’. This certainly doesn’t augur well for the BJP which had proclaimed the Assembly poll results in five States as a ‘curtain-raiser’ to next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

In Madhya Pradesh, though, there has been a bit of drama going around with both the BJP and the Congress claiming majority. Congress, certainly, is the single largest party in the 230-member strong Assembly.

Following is the finaly tally

MP Raj Chha Telangana Mizoram
Congress 115 101 68 21* 5
BJP 108 73 15 1 1
BSP 2 6 7 - -
CPI/CPI-M - - - - -
TRS - - - 88 -
MNF - - - - 26
Others 6 19 - 9 8
Total 230 199 90 119 40

Reacting to poll debacle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the party accepted people’s mandate with humility. “I thank the people of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for giving us the opportunity to serve. The BJP Governments in these states worked tirelessly for the welfare of the people.

“I also congratulate the Congress for its victories. Congratulations to KCR Garu for the thumping win in Telangana and to the Mizo National Front (MNF) for their impressive victory in Mizoram.

“Family of BJP Karyakartas(workers) worked day and night for the state elections. I salute them for their hardwork. Victory and defeat are an integral part of life. Today's results will further our resolve to serve people and work even harder for the development of India,” Modi concluded.