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Indian Congress Celebrates Election Victory

22/10/09October 22, 2009

According to results released on Thursday, India's Congress retained power in the states of Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh and emerged as the single largest party in the Haryana assembly elections that took place last week. It was the first popularity test since the country’s general elections in May. The victory is expected to give Prime Minister Singh an added impetus to push through economic reforms.

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Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh's Congress has been given a boost by the assembly election results
Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh's Congress has been given a boost by the assembly election resultsImage: AP

In Maharashtra -- the most crucial of the three states where assembly elections took place last week -- the Hindu nationalist alliance between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its battle for power for the third time in a row.

With its capital Mumbai, the state is India's economic powerhouse, as well as the country’s second most-populous state with almost 100 million inhabitants.

Just four hours after counting began; the Hindu nationalists conceded defeat to the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance.

The Congress also swept the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as had been widely expected. However, contrary to what most pollsters had predicted, the Congress fell short of the majority in Haryana, near the capital New Delhi.

Celebrations outside Congress HQ

Nevertheless, celebrations erupted outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi's house and the party headquarters in Delhi. Supporters set off firecrackers while others raised slogans and waved posters of Gandhi and her son, the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

In Mumbai, Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who took charge of Maharashtra less than a year ago, after the November attacks on the financial hub, said the Congress-NCP alliance would form a government again.

His predecessor, Vilasrao Deshmukh, was forced to resign following the terror attacks. Currently a minister in Delhi, he said it was up to the Congress party leadership to come up with a chief minister candidate.

“I don’t see any other possibility because I am happy as a central minister. Whatever job was entrusted to me, I did. Now the results are out, it looks like Congress-NCP is coming back to power for a third time.”

“Disappointed” but not “discouraged”

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat and said it was “disappointed” but not “discouraged” by the results, after receiving a drubbing in the general elections.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the party’s general secretary hinted that discord within the party might have been one of the major factors for its poor performance: “We will have to think about our weaknesses. We will have to carry out an honest analysis. We need to address these issues. I feel that most importantly we need to speak in one voice.”

Although the Congress did not pass the halfway mark in Haryana and despite a massive surge by the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda exuded confidence that the Congress would also form a new government in the state.

The Congress won 40 seats in the 90-member assembly, and the INLD put up a surprisingly good show, winning 31 seats.

Analysts say these elections have strengthened the position of the Congress as the dominant political force in India, and thus given a boost to Manmohan Singh's government.

Author: Murali Krishnan
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein