New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Akali Dal emerged big winners Tuesday, with one poised to govern Uttar Pradesh and the other breaking a four-decade jinx to retain power in Punjab, leaving national parties BJP and Congress to count their losses despite wins in two of the five states.
Two ruling parties ousted, two holding on to power despite the odds and a neck and neck race in a fifth state - it was a confused electoral pastiche as millions of votes were counted for elections held in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. It was the biggest popularity test since the 2009 general elections.
Punjab was set to go back to the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, which survived anti-incumbency to emerge winner with leads in 63 seats against the Congress' 51 in the 117-member house. In Manipur, the Congress overcame the anti-incumbency to sweep the polls.
However, the Congress government in Goa prepared to make way for BJP rule.
In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) faced defeat with trends indicating that it would get just 88 of the 403 seats, leaving the SP triumphant with a stunning mandate of 214 seats.
The Congress, which tied up with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), trailed a poor fourth with a combined estimated tally of 37 seats. The BJP struggled at number three with 46 seats.
It was a close fight in Uttarakhand with the Congress and the BJP in a neck-and-neck contest in the 70-member assembly.
As pundits and voters alike tried to make sense of the scenario, all were agreed that this electoral battle had left India's ruling Congress badly bruised and the famed Gandhi charisma in serious question. The only silver lining for the party was Manipur, where its chief minister O. Idobi Singh held on to power for a third time.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, son of party president Sonia Gandhi, had staked all in politically powerful Uttar Pradesh but come a clear cropper.
Prince Charming's charm failed, said a sceptic, pointing to the Congrsss rout in Rae Bareli, represented by party president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha where it lost all five seats. Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka had campaigned in what is known as the pocket borough of the Gandhis.
The party sprung to its chief campaigner's defence with Uttar Pradesh party chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi saying the onus for defeat lay with the state unit.
"The Congress was the first to start the oust Mayawati campaign, but we could not take the benefit due to lack of party infrastructure," Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot told IANS. "Rahulji led the campaign from the front."
Other party leaders admitted that they were stunned.
"The UP results are deeply disappointing," said Law Minister Salman Khurshid, whose wife Louise suffered a humiliating defeat in Farrukhabad.
The BJP put up a brave face.
"It's a mixed bag for BJP," its leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters. "We have won Punjab, we are winning Goa, we are nearing the majority in Uttarakhand also."
The mood was very different in the Akali Dal and SP camps.
Wild celebrations broke out at Badal village as 85-year-old Parkash Singh Badal steered the Akali Dal-BJP combine to another victory.
Ditto at the SP headquarters in Lucknow where Mulayam Singh Yadav came back as chief minister for a fourth term.
"I would like to congratulate the people of Uttar Pradesh who have brought Samajwadi Party back. The hope with which they have supported us, we will meet their expectations," a confident Mulayam Yadav said.