The counting of votes finally concluded in Madhya Pradesh as the Election Commission of India declared the results with Congress winning 114 seats, one short of halfway mark in the 230 seat assembly. The BJP was close behind with 109 seats, Bhujan Samaj Party 2, Samajwadi Party 1 and the Independents 4.
Madhya Pradesh proved to be a marathon cliffhanger as the state witnessed a see-saw battle between the BJP and the Congress till midnight.
In a late night drama, the Congress had declared that they had won the state with a clear majority. In a press conference held at 2:30 am, top Congress leaders Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh said they had written a letter to the Governor to invite them to prove their majority.
“With utmost happiness, I wish to inform you that Congress has won clear majority. We have written a letter to the Governor to invite us so that we can prove our majority before him,” he told media.
Kamal Nath had sought an appointment with Governor Anandiben Patel but was asked to wait till the final results came in.
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष मान. कमलनाथ जी ने महामहिम राज्यपाल आनंदी बेन पटेल जी से मिलने का समय माँगा।
—मिलकर सरकार बनाने का दावा पेश करेंगे।@anandibenpatel @CEOMPElections @SpokespersonECI @OfficeOfKNath pic.twitter.com/D9QYfwTmUu— MP Congress (@INCMP) 11 December 2018
The Congress is now expected to meet the Governor on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Tuesday, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was in talks with Mayawati’s BSP, the SP, regional player Gondwana Gantantra Party and independents who collectively won 7 seats.
With none of the two parties getting a majority at 116 seats, smaller parties and Independents will play a crucial role in deciding who forms the next government in the state, ruled by the BJP for the last 15 years.
The BSP had stated that “it will try and ensure that the BJP does not form government”.
Meanwhile, the BJP said the Congress did not get people’s mandate to form government in the state and claimed that it was in touch with some Independents and other parties.
“The Congress has not got the mandate. Many Independents and others are in contact with the BJP. We will meet Governor tomorrow (Wednesday),” state BJP president Rakesh Singh said in a tweet late Tuesday night.
The BJP had been ruling Madhya Pradesh for 15 years under the leadership of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Scripting a new narrative of its revival and resurgence in the country’s politics — especially in the crucial electoral politics of the Hindi heartland — just ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party had earlier on Tuesday wrested two states, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, from the BJP.
The outcome of this round of Assembly polls, which could be a bellwether for the coming general elections, clearly boosted the leadership profile of Congress president Rahul Gandhi who had all along been flayed for his party’s poor showings in state after state earlier. This also came on the first anniversary of his appointment as Congress president.
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Buoyed by his party’s victory in the Hindi heartland, Gandhi, who had vigorously campaigned in these polls dubbed as the “semi-finals to the 2019 general elections”, said their outcome was a “clear message” to the Modi government that people were not happy with it and that it was “now time for change”.