Meaning of the mandate (India)

The November-December elections to six state assemblies in India turned out to be, perhaps, the most critical political test since the 2004 general election that sent the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) packing and brought the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to the helm. As Himal went to press, the election process in Jammu & Kashmir was yet to be completed. However, the results that are in, from Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, have left the BJP shell-shocked, the Congress triumphant, the left expecting more, the Dalit icon Mayawati on a new high and the other parties somewhat confused.

The elections, held in phases over weeks, were billed as the 'semi-finals' that would reveal trends in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, due in the first half of 2009. Pre-election, the Congress party had only the Union Territory of Delhi while the BJP ruled in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Mizoram was held by the Mizo National Front. The left, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), had only months before withdrawn its support to the ruling UPA, which sustained its majority in Parliament by winning over Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and a clutch of individual MPs. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and a rising force, had fielded candidates in all of the seats in the polls.