lok-sabha-elections

Updated: May 24, 2019 13:04 IST

Voters in the Hindi heartland states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — turned up at the polling booths in heavy numbers in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which political analysts suggest, appears to have benefitted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Analysts said this increase in turnout appears to have been caused by a “feeling of regret” among people who had voted against the BJP in the assembly elections in the three states.

“There was a wave for Modi and a feeling of regret among the people who had voted against the BJP in the state elections, which resulted in the increase in vote share of BJP. The BJP worker too felt out of place after losing power after 15 years and work overtime to ensure BJP’s victory,” said LS Hardeniya, a political analyst.

Madhya Pradesh witnessed an increase in 9.53 percentage points in voting, taking the state’s turnout to 71.1% in 2019, up from 61.57% in 2014. This increase in voter turnout accompanied a rise in the BJP’s vote share, which touched 58%. Meanwhile, the Congress’s vote share dipped by 0.4 percentage points — 34.5% in 2019 compared to 34.9% in 2014. In the assembly polls in the state in November 2018, the BJP’s vote share was 41%, only marginally higher than the Congress’s 40.9%.

In Rajasthan, the BJP won all 25 Lok Sabha seats and also increased its vote share from 54% in 2014 to 58.5% this time. Rajasthan saw a voter turnout of 66.07% in the two-phased elections held on April 29 and May 6. The overall voter turnout was three percentage points higher than 2014 when it was 63.11%. The results also underscore the strong Modi wave, said political analyst Prakash Bhandari. “More people came out to vote for the BJP, which clearly shows that there was a pro-incumbency wave.” The BJP’s comprehensive win also underlined the fact that the verdict in the 2018 state polls was against former CM Vasundhara Raje while the support for Modi remained strong, he said.

Chhattisgarh’s total voter turnout was 71.48% .The vote share of both the BJP and the Congress increased by about two percentage points. “It turned out to be a bipolar election with smaller parties and independents getting almost nothing,” said Raipur-based political analyst Ashok Tomar.