Chidambaram sums up BJP’s 2019 in nine words after Jharkhand verdict

As the BJP headed for defeat in Jharkhand, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram took aim at the party, pointing to its weak showing in the 2019 Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Chidambaram’s tweet

“Dented in Haryana, Denied in Maharashtra, Defeated in Jharkhand. That is the story of the BJP in 2019,” he wrote on Twitter, and urged all non-BJP parties to unite around the Congress to save the Constitution.

At the time, the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance was moving towards victory with 49 seats, while the BJP was ahead in 22.

A contrast with the Lok Sabha result

The Jharkhand trend stood in sharp contrast to the BJP’s return to power with a large majority in the Lok Sabha election in May. The party had a similar experience in the October Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana.

In Maharashtra, where the BJP fought both elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena, its vote share in the seats it contested fell from 53% in the general election to 45% in the Assembly polls, and its tally dropped from 122 in 2014 to 105. It eventually failed to form a government after the Sena ended the alliance and formed one under Uddhav Thackeray with the support of the NCP and the Congress.

In Haryana, the BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in May with 58 per cent of the vote. In the October Assembly election, however, its vote share dropped to 36 per cent, a fall of more than 20 percentage points, and it fell short of a majority in the 90-member House. It formed the government after giving the deputy chief minister’s post to Dushyant Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party.

What happened next

In the final Jharkhand result, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the BJP 25 and the Congress 16, and Hemant Soren became Chief Minister.

See also: Congress and JMM

Originally published on 23 December 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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