BHOPAL, India, 27 November 2004 — The Bharatiya Janata Party has swept civic elections in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, retaining its bastions Indore and Gwalior and wresting Jabalpur from the Congress party. The sate capital Bhopal, however, went to Congress where its mayoral candidate Sunil Sood defeated BJP’s Bhagwandas Sabnani by 7,185 votes. But the BJP won in 39 of the 66 wards while Congress could manage only 22.
Congress can take heart from the foothold it has managed to gain in smaller municipal councils and semi-rural nagar panchayats. The polling for the civic bodies were held in two phases on Nov. 20 and 23.
The BJP’s virtual sweep has sent the followers and supporters of suspended firebrand leader Uma Bharati into a huddle and they are sulking. Their hope of revival of Bharati’s political future, after the recent tiff with BJP President Lal Krishna Advani has been dashed. The civic poll results have clearly established one fact in Madhya Pradesh that the BJP’s landslide victory in the assembly elections last December was not due to Bharati’s charisma, as she sought to portray but was a vote against Digvijay Singh’s 10-year misrule. This time round the voter has backed the BJP as a clear choice.
Bharati’s successor, Babulal Gaur, never had it so good. Until recently he was trying to grow out of Bharati’s shadows. He was seen as a feeble chief minister, lacking stature and struggling to establish himself in the party and the government. The thumping victory of BJP candidates in the civic poll, have made him known overnight.
Reacting to the party’s show, Gaur said the results have proved that people favored the BJP’s clear strategy of urban development and rejected false claims of development of Congress. “This indicates that the BJP has done yeoman’s service to the state,” Gaur said.
Congress was expected to take advantage of the confusion in the BJP ranks but it failed to do so under the weak state leadership of Subhash Yadav. Congress stalwarts Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath also stayed away from the campaigning while federal minister Suresh Pachori campaigned only in a few pockets.
Indore’s saffron loyalties were in display despite factional feuds in the party on the eve of the elections. Although the margin of victory came down, party candidate Uma Shashi Sharma defeated her Congress rival Shobha Oza by over 21,000 votes.
