New Delhi, Dec 4: The Congress claimed on Monday that although its results in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh were disappointing, on the basis of vote share, it was still “striking distance” behind the BJP. Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress, stated that the party’s strong vote percentage in these states is cause for optimism and rebirth. “The Indian National Congress did not perform as well as we had hoped in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. However, the vote shares show that the Congress is not far behind the BJP, in fact, it is within striking distance.” This is the cause for optimism and rebirth, according to a post made by Ramesh on X.Giving specifics, he stated that the Congress had a 42.2 percent vote share in Chhattisgarh compared to the BJP’s 46.3 percent. He said that in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress had a 40.4 percent vote share and the BJP 48.6 percent. According to Ramesh, the Congress received 39.5 percent of the vote in Rajasthan, compared to 41.7 percent for the BJP. Additionally, he shared the opposition group INDIA’s slogan, “Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA,” which aims to oppose the BJP together in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on X.The BJP tightened its grip over the Hindi heartland on Sunday by sweeping Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh and handily defeating the Congress. In the most recent round of Assembly elections, which is expected to serve as a semi-final before the electoral battle of the next year, the Congress defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, making it 3-1 for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).