The Congress was wary of early celebrations even after election trends trickled in on Tuesday morning and the party seemed to be emerging victorious in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and fighting it out in Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, there was a gloom at the BJP headquarters in the national Capital.
While the day limped slowly for those gathered at the Congress headquarter at 24 Akbar Road, BJP leaders initially sounded confident that the party will win in the Hindi heartland of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. As results started coming in indicating loss for the saffron party in all five states there was a turn-around of sorts in the mood inside the BJP party office.
"For any election, victory or defeat is the outcome of the game. After ruling Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for 15 years, there was a perceived anti-incumbency this time around. But our party has given a strong fight," said a party leader. "We had lost hopes in Rajasthan," said another leader on the condition of anonymity. "But we are clueless about Chhattisgarh," said another party leader.
The mood in the Congress headquarter, on the other hand, began to change. Around 9am, when it was clear that the party has bagged a win in Chhattisgarh and that it was leading in Rajasthan, nagaras (local drums) were brought out. The road leading up to the party office was soon filled with Congress workers who celebrated with the drums and flower petals. Several Congress spokespersons busied themselves in giving sound bites and opinions to the media.
In case of the BJP, party general secretaries Arun Singh, Kailash Vijayvargiya and Anil Jain were among those who addressed the media till early afternoon but left soon. National spokespersons like Sambit Patra, Shahnawaz Hussain and Gaurav Bhatia took charge of addressing the media and explaining the reasons of outcome throughout the day. By 4 o'clock, most of the official spokespersons were left leaving only the media panellists.
Party karyakartas, present inside the office, looked sad. "We never expected such result," said a party worker. "We hope the party will soon come out of the defeat and get ready for the 2019 with a new vigour and energy," said a karyakarta. Another ground level worker of the party quipped, "There was a disconnect between the leaders and cadre and therefore we faced such a situation."
For Congress, as the day progressed, it was clear that the party was giving a tight fight in Madhya Pradesh. Supporters brought out fireworks, posed for photos and sang praises for party president Rahul Gandhi. A procession saw workers walk along Akbar Road and say "Rahul Gandhi zindabad".
A worker in the midst of celebrations did not miss a chance to express his happiness and quipped, "Perhaps the ones sitting at Deen Dayal Upadhyay can send over the laddoos here now."
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