TS Singh Deo, former Deputy Chief Minster of Chhattisgarh, agreed that while on the face of it, tribals of the state have shifted allegiance to the BJP, contributing to the Congress’s crushing defeat in the state, the fine print indicated something else. Citing vote share, he also contended that the Congress’s performance was not bad, the BJP just did better.

Of the 26 seats in Bastar and Sarguja districts in the tribal-dominated state, the Congress won only four from Bastar and none in Sarguja. The Congress, which won 25 ST-reserved seats in the 2018 assembly polls, managed to secure just 11 this time.

The BJP won 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category — up from three. Overall, the party has won 54 of the state’s 90 seats, the Congress got only 35, down from the 68 they bagged in 2018.

Asked about the party’s dismal performance in tribal areas, Mr Deo said, “there is little doubt that the tribal vote has shifted”. But he qualified that statement with a reference to the BJP’s victory margins in multiple seats.    

“One seat we lost by 14 votes, one by 100 to 200 votes, another by 94. The margins are not too much. I don’t think there has been a shift,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview. He also disagreed that the Prime Minister’s Rs 24,000 crore scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups had much to do with the shift.

The BJP, he contended, had drawn up a better programme for women which has worked. “We also could not keep the sarva-adivasi samaj together. They drifted away formed a political party and contested,” he added.

Citing the two parties’ vote share, he also contended that the Congress’s performance was not bad, the BJP just did better.

That the tribals have been unhappy in Chhattisgarh for the last few years has been clear by the volume of protests over the price of tendu leaves and other minor forest products. Tendu leaves or the “green gold” are the biggest source of income for tribals, who finally took it to the open market.

In May 2021, four persons died in police firing during a protest in Sukma district, 46 people were injured, a pregnant woman died in the hospital.

The backlash came now. As after the farmers’ death in Mandsaur police firing, the farmer vote swung towards the Congress, the tribals turned to the BJP this time.

What also helped was the BJP’s grassroot campaign, which penetrated Maoist-dominated areas of Bastar that outsiders feared to tread.

Then, days before the election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strategical announcement, launching a Rs 24,000 crore scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups from neighbouring Jharkhand.  

The upcoming aerial action movie Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, is generating much anticipation for its release in 2024. Unsurprisingly, the first poster showcasing Hrithik Roshan in the role of the stylish squadron leader Shamsher Pathania, also known as Patty, has created a buzz across the internet.

On Monday, Hrithik Roshan posted the movie poster on social media, revealing his appearance in a sharp Air Force uniform, fully equipped and prepared for his upcoming flight. Sharing the poster, he wrote, “Squadron Leader Shamsher Pathania; Call Sign: Patty; Designation: Squadron Pilot; Unit: Air Dragons; Fighter Forever.”

As per reports, Fighter narrates the compelling journey of Hrithik Roshan’s character, Patty, as he transforms into India’s best fighter pilot.

Kamal Nath — former Chief Minister-turned-Madhya Pradesh Congress chief — has been asked to step down from the post, sources said a day after the party got decimated in a state they were sure of winning. The results yesterday showed the BJP had won 163 of the state’s 230 seats — more than double the Congress tally of 66.

The figures made it clear that the situation could not be further from the Congress reading of it.

The party, led by Mr Nath, was convinced that there was huge anti-incumbency against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

So convinced of victory was the party that on the morning of the counting day, posters came up congratulating Mr Nath on his victory. By noon, they had to be pulled down as the BJP established a comfortable lead.

With the party being convinced that anti-incumbency against the BJP would push the election in their direction, the Congress campaign strategy lacked an edge.

The party did not hold massive protests against the BJP to register its presence. The number of public meetings and rallies they held was almost half that of the BJP. This affected communication with the voters and made the party unable to carry its message across, leaders confided in private.

Mr Nath’s other move — denying the promised five to seven seats to INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party — has earned it the wrath of the alliance partners.

Sharing of seats at the state level was expected to be the blueprint for the bloc’s one-on-one strategy for next year’s general elections — dubbed a do-or-die battle with the BJP.

“The Congress has not been able to understand the ground situation in Madhya Pradesh. What harm could have happened if they had given 5-7 seats to Akhilesh Yadav? What have they won now?” National Conference chief Omar Abdullah was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India. 

“Judging the results of INDIA alliance in the state elections, if the situation is like this in the future, we cannot win,” he told reporters yesterday.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Congress could have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, but “some votes were cut by INDIA parties”.

“This is the truth. We had suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of division of votes,” she told the state assembly today.

Senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore underscored the importance of alliances and said it is the state-level leaders in the Hindi heartland “who need to understand it”.

“It is tough for the Congress to understand the importance of alliances because in states like MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan there is no alliance politics,” Manickam Tagore told NDTV.

A section of party workers also confided that the party needs a new face and fresh energy in the state, where it has been led for decades by Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, both in their late ’70s. They pointed to Telangana where a new young leader, Revanth Reddy, has crafted a massive victory.