INDIA alliance revives, NDA retains power 3rd time

The INDIA alliance made a major comeback in several crucial Hindi heartland states, showing it got 42 seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh and registering steady headway in Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led alliance retained power for a third consecutive term but not with an overwhelming majority as predicted by various exit polls. The most unexpected performance put up by the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) was in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh.
The opposition bloc's performance in Uttar Pradesh is being seen as a big surprise for the BJP which almost swept the polls in 2014 with a stunning performance of coming out victorious in 71 seats and holding its ground in 2019 by winning 62. In 2019, the Samajwadi Party won five seats, Congress one and Bahujan Samaj Party 10.
 The Indian alliance also made significant gains in Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand but could not spring a surprise in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. In Rajasthan, BJP won 14 seats, while Congress got eight and CPI(M), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Bharat Adivasi Party registered victory in one seat each. The BJP had won all the 25 seats in the 2019 polls.
 In Haryana, both Congress and BJP got five seats each. The BJP  won all 10 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In Jharkhand too, the INDIA alliance's Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won three and two seats respectively while the BJP got eight seats. BJP's ally AJSU Party is ahead in one seat. The BJP won 11 seats in the 2019 polls while its ally All Jharkhand Students Union came out victorious in one seat. The JMM and Congress won one seat each.
 The NDA continued its dominance in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chhattisgarh. The BJP won all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, all four seats in Himachal Pradesh, all seven in Delhi and all five in Uttarakhand. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP won 10 seats while Congress one. 
 In 2019, BJP won 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh while the Congress won one. In that year, the BJP had won all four seats in Himachal Pradesh, all five in Uttarakhand, all seven in Delhi and nine out of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh. Congress won two seats in Chhattisgarh in 2019. In total, the Hindi heartland states comprise 225 Lok Sabha seats.

                                                                    -----Ajay Chaturvedi, Sr Journalist-delhi