Congress scores zero in several states, mauled in many others

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's prediction that Congress would not be able to open its account in several states came true Friday with the party failing to secure a single Lok Sabha seat from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand as votes were counted Friday.

Congress leaders said that it was unprecedented for the party not to score seats across regions in a general election. The party also could not cross touch double digit in any state as it suffered heavy reverses in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress lost all seven seats in national capital of Delhi which were wrested by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

It was 0-25 for Congress in Rajasthan, 0-26 in Gujarat, 0-4 in Himchal Pradesh, 0-5 in Uttarakhand and 0-39 in Tamil Nadu.

Except Tamil Nadu, the party lost all seats to the BJP in the other states.

Modi had said in his rally at Valmiki Nagar in Bihar May 7 that Congress will be reduced to zero in many states where the anger against UPA's "failure" to contain corruption was marked.

In the 2009 election, Congress had won 21 seats in Rajasthan, 11 in Gujarat, one in Himachal Pradesh, eight in Tamil Nadu and five in Uttarakhand.

The party could win only one seat in Haryana against nine it had won in 2009. It won four seats in Maharashtra, two in Andhra Pradesh and was poised to win three seats in Assam.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said after the results that it was the end of the Congress era in Indian politics.

"With the historic win, good days have come. Congress mukt (free) Bharat is now in our hands..." Raje told media persons in BJP headquarters in Rajasthan.