Cong in ‘striking distance’ of BJP in terms of vote share: Ramesh on assembly poll results

PTI, Dec 4, 2023, 10:35 AM IST

The Congress on Monday said its performance in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was disappointing but it was within ”striking distance” of the BJP going by the vote share.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the good vote share of the party in these states is a reason for hope and revival.

”It is true that the performance of the Indian National Congress in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was disappointing and far below our own expectations. ”But the vote shares tell a story of a Congress that is not very behind the BJP—in fact, it is within striking distance. This is the reason for hope and revival,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

Giving details, he said in Chhattisgarh while the BJP’s vote share was 46.3 percent, that of the Congress was 42.2 percent.

In Madhya Pradesh, he said the BJP had a vote share of 48.6 percent while the Congress had 40.4 percent.

In Rajasthan, Ramesh said while the BJP had 41.7 percent vote share, the Congress had 39.5 percent.

He also posted the tagline of opposition bloc INDIA, which plans to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on X – ”Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA”.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland.

The Congress ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana to make it 3-1 for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the latest round of Assembly elections billed as a semi-final before next year’s poll showdown.