India recently announced the results of assembly elections in five key states – namely Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept in key Central Hindu states — Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh; while the Indian National Congress (INC) could secure a majority only in Telangana. In Mizoram, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) defeated the incumbent Mizo National Front (MNF). After a shocking victory in the Karnataka elections in May 2023, INC was confident of keeping the hopes alive in all these states. Election surveys had also predicted that the INC was in a much better position than the BJP. Though the INC was seeminlgy able to surpass the BJP in the pre-poll narrative-building, the poll results announced on 3 December 2023 illustrated that the BJP remains unchallenged in key Indian states. The table below shows the latest election results in these states and a comparison with 2018:
