Unable to open its scorecard in Rajasthan where it had picked up three seats in the 2008 Assembly elections, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday blamed the Congress for its wipe-out in the State.

Analysing the Assembly election results, the Polit Bureau said in a statement: “In Rajasthan, the people’s determination to get rid of the Congress government has led to a sweep for the BJP. This has adversely affected the prospects of the CPI(M). It has led to a disappointing result with the party losing its three sitting seats.”

Having won three seats in 2008, the CPI(M) and its three pre-poll allies — the CPI, the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) — had hoped to do better this time round, riding the anti-Congress wave. In fact, some in the party had even coined the slogan “ teen se taintees” (three to 33) in anticipation of a better performance.

In 2008, the CPI(M) had won the Anupgarh and Dhod reserved constituencies besides Danta Ramgarh. In Anupgarh, the party came third; trailing behind the BJP and the National Unionist Zamindara Party. As for Dhod, the CPI(M) candidate was a distant first runner-up and in Danta Ramgarh, Central Committee member Amra Ram came third with the Congress wresting the seat from him by a sizable margin.

Speaking about the four Assembly election results, the CPI(M) noted that the Congress had suffered a major defeat. “The defeat is more resounding as the Congress could not dislodge the BJP from the governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where the latter has been in power for 10 years.”

According to the Polit Bureau, the Congress could not encash on the “misrule and corruption of the BJP governments in these two States” because it was not seen as an “alternative, given the United Progress Alliance government’s economic policies leading to price rise and other burdens on the people and its track record of corruption.”

“The BJP has been the beneficiary of the strong anti-Congress mood of the people in these States, except Delhi, where the Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as a credible alternative to the Congress,” the Polit Bureau statement said, amid indications that many party workers in Delhi might have voted for the AAP to keep the BJP at bay and in line with the party policy of maintaining equi-distance from the two main parties.