Congress president Rahul Gandhi concedes defeat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi nationally and to minister Smriti Irani in his family backyard of Amethi congratulating both and saying he hoped both will “lovingly care” for their respective constituencies—PM for the country and Irani for Amethi.
Asked if he would resign taking moral responsibility for his party’s defeat and his personal loss from Amethi, Gandhi said the Congress Working Committee will soon meet and decide that.
“The CWC will decide on that. We will meet shortly,” said Gandhi at a press briefing he addressed at the party headquarters, as his sister, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, looked on.
Thank you @RahulGandhi for your good wishes. https://t.co/0lClOl4yl2
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019
Gandhi refused to comment on what went wrong, saying only: “Today is not the day to get into the details of the mandate. Even if I speak it won’t matter because the people have spoken and they have voted to make Modi the PM. Today is a day to congratulate the PM and hope he will look after the interests of the country”.
Gandhi said there’s a lot of time to introspect on what went wrong and reiterated that he will continue to reciprocate any bitterness with love and noting that love is never defeated.
I accept the verdict of the people of India 🇮🇳
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 23, 2019
Congratulations to the winners, Mr Modi & the NDA.
Thank you to the people of Wayanad for electing me as your MP.
Thank you also to the people of Amethi.
Thank you Congress workers & leaders for your hard work in this campaign.
He also said the election was a battle between two visions of India and the people had voted for the BJP’s vision.
I respect that, he said, making a quick exit from AICC office that wore a deserted look as Congress faced electoral decimation for the second term in a row and Gandhi lost his family’s seat Amethi to Smriti Irani.
जनमत स्वीकार! उत्तर प्रदेश की सम्मानित जनता और तमाम कार्यकर्ताओं का धन्यवाद।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 23, 2019
If caste barriers fell in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, dynasties became the second casualty with many political families, mostly belonging to the opposition camp, failing to win the people's mandate.
Be it the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan in Uttar Pradesh, Lalu Prasad's family in Bihar, the Hooda family in Haryana or the Pawars of Maharashtra, the going has been rough.
अभी तो सूरज उगा है... #VijayiBharat pic.twitter.com/8rDKBofuTy
— BJP (@BJP4India) May 23, 2019
Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda, son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, was trailing narrowly in Rohtak. His father lost in Sonipat.
In Haryana's epic battle of dynasts witnessed in Hisar, BJP candidate Brijendra Singh, son of former Union Minister Birender Singh, defeated Dushyant Chautala, grandson of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Bhavya Bishnoi, the third generation of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's family.
Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory! Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019
In Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Choudhary were staring at defeat. Even in the Yadav clan, Dimple Yadav, wife of Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, was trailing in Kannauj. in Badaun, Mulayam Singh Yadav's nephew Dharmendra Yadav was trailing, so was another nephew Akshay Yadav from Firozabad.
However, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav were leading in Mainpuri and Azamgarh, respectively.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019
This victory represents the aspirations of a nation of 1.3 billion people.
I too am looking forward to working closely with you for closer bilateral ties, which also augur well for global peace and prosperity. https://t.co/MbnDQBBnMF
Congress leader Jitin Prasada, son of late party veteran Jitendra Prasada, came third in Dhaurahra in UP. Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, lost his Guna seat in Madhya Pradesh. It was a double defeat for him as Scindia was in charge of Congress in western Uttar Pradesh where the party was decimated.
Milind Deora, son of another Congress leader, the late Murli Deora, lost from Mumbai South.
In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibahv Gehlot lost in Jodhpur, but his predecessor Vasudhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh won in Jhalawar-Baran. In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath's son Nakul, however, won his father's Chhindwara seat.
Thank you @capt_amarinder Ji for the wishes.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019
I congratulate you for your party's performance in Punjab. Looking forward to working together for Punjab's welfare. https://t.co/pYjYZk5nIE
In Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule-Pawar won from Baramati for the third consecutive time, but his nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son Parth (NCP) lost from Maval.
Bihar saw Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal, being led by his son Tejashwi Yadav, biting the dust. Tejashwi's sister Misha Bharti was trailing in Pataliputra.
Thank you @OmarAbdullah.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019
Congratulations to your party for the impressive performance in Kashmir. https://t.co/NcREW9leU2
Elsewhere, Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal won their seats Ferozepur and Bathinda respectively, and in Tamil Nadu, later former Chief Minister and DMK founder M. Karunanidhi's daughter K. Kanimozhi was leading in Thoothukkudi.
Telangana saw Kavitha Kalvakuntla, daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, losing from Nizamabad.
I’ve said—in fact ranted often—that our political economy is all default Left. Within that reality, NYAY was clumsy, incomprehensible & hasty. I don’t at all rule out Modi adopting some form of it. As he did with Aadhar. Vajpayee was our only true, instinctive reformer... https://t.co/knL4EBMm6m
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) May 23, 2019
In Karnataka, Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, won from Hassan but the other grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, lost from Mandya. Deve Gowda himself lost from the Tumkur seat.
