Publication

This paper examines the results of the October 2009 assembly elections in three Indian states – Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh. It analyzes the reasons for the Congress Party's victory and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) defeat. The author observes that, apart from Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress Party's successes in Maharashtra and Haryana were not entirely convincing. What however unequivocally emerged, he argues, was that the BJP's lacklustre campaign contributed to the Congress Party's victories. He concludes that the BJP, bereft of any leadership, virtually lost the elections even before they began.