Congress vote share dips below 20 percent for first time

New Delhi: The vote share for Congress slumped below 20 per cent for the first time in the history of the country`s Lok Sabha elections triggering an unprecedented debacle while it crossed 30 per cent for the BJP to record a new high.

A nine per cent decline in the Congress` vote share to 19.3 per cent in the just concluded elections for the 16th Lok Sabha from its showing in the 2009 polls saw the party lose 162 seats to get only 44, according to an analysis of results for the 16th Lok Sabha elections. For the BJP which scored a simple majority on its own with 282 seats, the vote share was 31 per cent, 12 per cent more than the previous polls which helped it get an extra 166 seats in an emphatic victory on the back of Narendra Modi wave. The Congress also had the ignominy of not bagging even one seat in 10 states. They were Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkand. The election results also saw prominent regional parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference(NC) completely wiped out. BSP, DMK and NC had 21 seats, 18 seats and 4 seats respectively in the 15th Lok Sabha. Rashtriya Lok Dal, All India Forward Bloc, Asom Gana Parishad, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi, Bodoland People`s Front, Haryana Janhit Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi also failed to open their account. There were also new entrants to 16th Lok Sabha like Aam Aadmi Party(AAP)-4, Apna Dal-2 and All India N R Congress-1. AIADMK, which had nine MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha, could increase its tally to an impressive 37 this time. Similarly, Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, which had 19 and 14 MPs respectively, have increased their numbers to 34 and 20, respectively. Shiv Sena, which is a constituent of BJP-led NDA, had won 11 seats and in 2014 elections the number has gone up to 18. TDP had six seats in 15th Lok Sabha and their number rose to 16 in this year`s tally. The analysis also showed that BSP got more vote share (4.1 per cent) than AIADMK(3.3 per cent) and Trinamool Congress(3.8 per cent) but failed to get even one seat. But AIADMK and Trinamool Congress with reduced vote share trounced their rivals in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively getting 37 and 34 seats respectively. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has won 20 seats, Telugu Desam (16) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (11) while Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSR Congress) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) got nine seats each. Lok Janshakti Party and Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) bagged six seats each while Shiromani Akali Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal and PDP got four seats each. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and All India United Democratic Front have won three seats each. Janata Dal (Secular), Janata Dal (United), Indian National Lok Dal, Indian Union Muslim League, Apna Dal and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha got two seats each this time. One each seat has been won by Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Kerala Congress (M), Swabhimani Paksha, National People`s Party, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Sikkim Democratic Front, Naga People`s Front, Pattali Makkal Katchi and All India N R Congress. Three independents have won this time as against nine. In 2009, CPI had won four seats, Communist Party of India (Marxist) had 16, Nationalist Congress Party (9), Rashtriya Janata Dal (4), All India Forward Bloc (2), Asom Gana Parishad (1), Assam United Democratic Front, which has now been renamed as All India United Democratic Front had one seat, Janata Dal (Secular) had three seats and Janata Dal (United) had 20 seats. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had won two seats, Kerala Congress (M) had one, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1), Indian Union Muslim League (2), Nagaland Peoples Front (1), Revolutionary Socialist Party (2), Shiromani Akali Dal (4), Sikkim Democratic Front (1), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (2) and Telugu Desam had won six seats.