Election results 2019: Are Hindus shunning Congress?

Of the 421 seats the Congress contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it lost 369. Led by party president Rahul Gandhi, the Congress could win only 52 sets, finished second on 196 seats and occupied third or below positions in 173 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Almost 60 per cent of the Congress MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha come from just three states -- Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, which is incidentally the only state where it is in power and could manage to win more seats than the rivals.

In terms of vote percentage, the Congress has won more than 50 per cent vote share only in Puducherry (56.3 per cent). The BJP has, in contrast, achieved that feat in 17 states.

States where Congress did well in vote share

The Congress secured more than 40 per cent votes in seven states

48.3 per cent in Meghalaya,

48.1 per cent in Nagaland (but did not win the lone Lok Sabha seat)

46.9 percent in Lakshadweep (where it lost to the NCP)

46 per cent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

42.9 per cent in Goa

40.9 per cent in Chhattisgarh

40.1 per cent in Punjab

In Kerala, where it won 15 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress polled 37.3 per cent votes. In Assam, the Congress won three of the 14 Lok Sabha seats and got 35.4 per cent votes. The BJP won nine seats with 36.1 per cent vote share.

What is common?

The eight states, where the Congress secured respectable vote share, have one thing in common -- dominance of non-Hindu votes.

In Meghalaya and Nagaland, where the Congress enjoyed the maximum vote share, around 90 per cent population is Christian.

In Lakshadweep, Muslims form more than 95 per cent of the population of the Union Territory.

Goa is a classic case. Census 2011 data put the Hindu population of Goa at 66 per cent with Christians and Muslims making up nearly 33.5 per cent of Goans. North Goa, where the BJP won, has over 76 per cent Hindu population and South Goa, which went to the Congress, has more than 46 per cent non-Hindu population.

In Punjab, the Congress’s lone citadel in North India, non-Hindus form more than 61 per cent of population with the Sikhs having a share of nearly 58 per cent. Interestingly, the Congress won eight out of 13 or 61.5 per cent Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

Chhattisgarh is the only exception among the major states for the Congress, which formed a government with two-thirds majority in the assembly election held in November last year. But in the Lok Sabha election, the Congress won two of the 11 seats while the BJP won in nine parliamentary constituencies.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands is another exception, where the Congress got 46 per cent vote to win the lone seat. But the BJP was not far behind with 45.3 per cent votes. Non-Hindus form about 30 per cent population of the Union Territory.

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