Congress, which came to power in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana successively with the magic of guarantees (election promises), then failed to implement such guarantees and suffered a crushing defeat in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections. The failure of the Himachal Pradesh Congress government's guarantees led to its defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, a neighboring state, while the failure of guarantees in the states of Telangana and Karnataka affected the Maharashtra assembly elections.
The failure of the promises of the Congress-ruled states was the main reason for the crushing defeat of the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi and the resounding victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti. In the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections held in December 2022, the Congress party came to power by announcing ten guarantees. In the same sequence, it gave five guarantees in the assembly elections held in Karnataka in May 2023 and announced 6 guarantees in the Telangana assembly elections held in November of the same year and seized power.
Within the one year of ruling, the people of these three states came to the conclusion that they had been badly deceived by Congress. Maharashtra assembly results reflecting such public opinion. Congress and its allies suffered an unprecedented defeat. The people did not believe the five guarantees announced by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). In the wake of the failures of the guarantees of the neighbouring Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka governments, the voters of Maharashtra rejected the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The sin of running together with the Congress did not spare the Aghadi partners, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar).
The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi, which had won 30 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the last Lok Sabha elections, collapsed within 4 months. Despite the announcement of popular guarantees such as Rs. 3,000 per month for women, free buses travel for women, Rs. 1,000 per month for the unemployed, removal of the 50 percent reservation limit, and free health insurance up to Rs. 25 lakh, the people of Maharashtra did not take them into account due to the failures of Congress government in Telangana and Karnataka. Especially the voters of Maharashtra living on the border villages of Telangana and Karnataka have swept away the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Kalyana Karnataka, Marathwada and Telangana regions were one state until the formation of linguistic states in 1956. Relationships and business transactions between these regions continue since the decades. Moreover, just as the people of the border areas of Telangana and Karnataka know Marathi, the people of Maharashtra on the other side know Telugu and Kannada. In this context, it did not take long for the people of border Maharashtra to realize the guarantee gambling of the Telangana and Karnataka governments. That is why they have been so angry.
Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Nanded districts of Maharashtra are on the border of Telangana, while Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, districts are on the border of Karnataka. Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Hingoli, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Solapur, Sangli, Hatkanangle, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri Lok Sabha constituencies are located in the bordering area. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Osmanabad Ratnagiri Lok Sabha seats won by Mahayuti, while Maha Vikas Aghadi won remaining eight Lok Sabha seats. With the independent candidate who won the Hatkanangle Lok Sabha seat joining hands with Aghadi, the alliance strength rose to 9 out of 11 seats. However, the situation changed in the assembly elections held just 4 months later. Out of the 26 assembly constituencies bordering Telangana and Karnataka, the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi won only three. Mahayuti won Gadchiroli, Aheri, Rajura, Arni, Kinvat, Hadgaon, Bokar, Naigaon and Deglur in Telangana, while Mahayuti was limited to just one Vani constituency.
Mahayuti won in Mudkhed Udgir, Neelanga, Awsa, Akkalkot, Solapur, Pandharpur, Jatmiraj, Kolhapur, Kagal, Chandgad and Sawantwadi assembly constituencies bordering Karnataka, while Mahayuti won only in Umarga and Tasgaon constituencies. In total, the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi won only 15 of the 54 assembly constituencies, including four districts bordering Telangana and three districts bordering Karnataka. This figure clearly shows that the Congress' guarantee gambling have distorted the results of Maharashtra. The top Maratha leaders Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, who had trusted the Congress, faced setback as a result of the associational fault.
Telangana & Karnataka Chief Ministers Revanth Reddy, Siddaramaiah, their ministerial teams and top leaders, who had campaigned in Maharashtra and told blatant lies that the guarantees had been fully implemented in their states. Their campaign seriously damaged the chances of Maha Vikas Aghadi in the border constituencies. The Maratha voters realized that imported leaders are trying to bluff with their fraudulent promises. Although Chief Minister Revanth Reddy campaigned in 8 constituencies where people with Telangana roots are decisive forces, the party finally won only two seats. The same is the case with Siddaramaiah. However, the failure of the guarantees of the three previous Congress governments stood out as the reasons why the Congress party failed in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections.
