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Win-win for Congress, party ahead in 3 states
Published on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 18:35, Updated on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 19:16 in 
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Mumbai/Chandigarh/Itanagar: The Congress came up trumps in the electoral sweepstakes on Thursday by retaining power in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh but falling short of absolute majority in Haryana.
In the politically significant state of Maharashtra, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine was on its way to winning 146 seats, just above the magic figure of 145 in the 288-member assembly.
In the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, it was a virtual no-contest as the Congress won 40 of 60 seats.
It was the electoral showing in Haryana that dulled the Congress' victory edge with the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) surging from nine seats in the 2005 assembly polls to 31 this time, leaving the Congress with 40 of the 90 assembly seats - still the largest single party but well short of the halfway mark.
It was not the emphatic victory that it had hoped for, but it was a victory nonetheless, said Congress leaders at the party’s national headquarters in New Delhi.
"The election results in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Prdesh have shown that the Congress is the only party working for the welfare of the people. For the BJP, it is not just down but almost out of the national political scene," said party general secretary V Narayanasamy.
"This is the mandate given by the people for the able leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and general secretary Rahul Gandhi," said Narayansamy, who is also minister of state for parliamentary affairs.
Left in disarray, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi blamed the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for its defeat in state elections, saying they had become "electronic victory machines" for the Congress.
"It is a sponsored victory for the Congress," Naqvi told reporters.
It was left to BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad to concede defeat "with humility".
"The results are unexpected... We have to honestly ponder over our weaknesses and act fast," Prasad said.
As the stunned leaders of the BJP and the Shiv Sena combine went into a huddle in Sena chief Bal Thackeray's Mumbai home to discuss why they had managed to win only 90-odd seats, Prasad also blamed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)--an offshoot of the Shiv Sena started by Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj Thackeray that got 13 seats--for splitting their votes.
"In about 40-45 constituencies, the MNS factor favoured the Congress," he said.
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