NE victory increases pressure on state BJP leadership Cong says it’s anti-incumbency

BHOPAL : The BJP celebrated the party forming its government in Manipur and improved performance in Nagaland with gusto in the city on Saturday. But the fact that both the results are being perceived as the outcome of anti-incumbency factor may sound warning bells for the BJP in the state.

The BJP has lost four assembly by-elections in a row. It lost Ater, followed by Chitrakoot and now it had to wash its hands off Mungaoli and Kolaras. Clearly, if the anti-incumbency factor is at work here, it is not good news for the ruling party.

Congress’ chief spokesperson K K Mishra said that while all states have different political equations but what can be said with certainty is that an anti-incumbency wave is raging across the country. He said that the wave swept away 25-year-old Manik government of Manipur and the same fate awaits the 15-year-old BJP government in the state. He said that the Congress will be chief and only beneficiary of the anti-incumbent backlash.

Among others, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur have voted against the incumbent governments in elections held over the past couple of years. In Gujarat, the ruling BJP had to suffer major reverses. The Karnataka polls will be confirmatory test for whether the anti-incumbency factor is indeed playing a decisive role in the elections. After Karnataka; MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will go to polls.

Besides assembly by-polls, the results of the urban civic body polls have also been disappointing for the BJP. Sensing the danger, the state BJP has begun preparing for the polls in right earnest.

Revenue minister Umashankar Gupta said that the BJP organisation and workers in the state are capable of taking on any wave. “Their superiority is no secret,” he said adding that the BJP will ride back to power in the state.