Summary:
New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Bulldozing a resurgent rainbow coalition led by the Samajwadi Party, the BJP Thursday stormed back to power in Uttar Pradesh, and also retained Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, while Arvind Kejriwal"s AAP scripted a stellar victory in Punjab, winning a three-fourth majority pulverising its rivals.
Holi came a week early for the BJP as an incumbent government returned to power in UP after over three decades, with the party riding on the enduring charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath"s effective implementation of welfare programmes and a ceaseless campaign against crime and criminals.As the BJP retained its grip on the four states, futher fortifying its positions ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party wrested Punjab from the Congress, which lay shorn of power in yet another state, adding to a string of electoral losses.
A debilitated Congress now rules only Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed a celebratory gathering at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, hailed the victories as an "emphatic endorsement of BJP"s pro-poor and proactive governance" and a "vote for political stability".
The spectacular rise of AAP outside Delhi, with an unprecedented mandate in Punjab and a toehold in Goa where it bagged two seats, analysts said, foretells a big likely churn in the opposition camp.
Kejriwal called his party"s astounding victory in Punjab a "revolution".