How Can People Be So Ungrateful? Were There Sinister Forces at Play Behind BJP’s Losses in the Election?
- The surprising election results have denied Modi the luxury of ruling with an iron hand, and he will be compelled to use the art of compromise.
The much-awaited results of the national elections in Bharat are out, and they have been anything but predictable. While NDA secured a comfortable majority and will form the next government under the leadership of Narendra Modi, BJP fell short of the halfway mark by 32 seats at 240, notwithstanding its tall claims of “Ab ki baar 400 ke paar” (this time more than 400 seats.)
The opposition I.N.D.I.A. alliance did quite well as well, securing 233 seats with the Congress Party almost doubling its seats from 53 to 99. It is interesting to note though, that 26 parties of the alliance together won fewer seats than BJP’s tally.
However, BJP’s debacle in Uttar Pradesh is hard to fathom. It dropped from 62 to 36. How can Modiji, who won the last election from Varanasi by more than 400,000 votes come ahead only by 150,000 votes? How can Smriti Irani who has nurtured her Amethi constituency, lose her seat by more than 100,000 votes? How can Rahul Gandhi win Raebareli by 400,000 votes?
The cruelest cut was the defeat of the BJP in the Faizabad constituency which includes the city of Ayodhya. Ayodhya has seen unprecedented development and its economy is lifted to unimaginable heights — a new airport and railway station — are part of its revival story and a grand Ram Temple that people waited for five centuries was inaugurated only a few months ago.
BJP’s trenchant and sincere efforts to make a dent in the southern states of Bharat came a cropper, except for a face-saving debut seat in Kerala.
How can people be so ungrateful? It is a crying shame and Hindus of Ayodhya will carry this stigma for a long time to come. Could all this be a mere coincidence? Or were there sinister forces at play? Only time will tell. For the time being, the damage is done.
BJP’s trenchant and sincere efforts to make a dent in the southern states of Bharat came a cropper, except for a face-saving debut seat in Kerala. BJP’s hopes were dashed in West Bengal, where it was expecting to raise its tally from 18 to 26. Instead, it lost nine seats. It also had a setback in Maharashtra as well, due to its miscalculation in admitting Ajit Pawar. The party also lost nine seats in Rajasthan, most likely from internal conflicts.
But the BJP did very well in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh,. The BJP in Odisha and NDA in Andhra Pradesh will form state governments there.
It seems that all the hard work of Modiji and his various schemes to help the less privileged were in vain as voters were misled by fear-mongering and promises of freebies by the Congress-led alliance. It is a sad reflection on our democracy that a Khalistani terrorist and a Kashmiri militant won their respective races from jail, but Ujjval Nikam who sent Ajmal Kasab to the gallows as public prosecutor lost the election.
Coalition governments have their compulsions and limitations so some of the expected big decisions such as UCC, CAA, NRC, possible revocation of Waqf Board-related laws, decision on POK, etc. will now stay in cold storage.
So far, Modiji has ruled with an iron hand, be it in Gujarat or Delhi. Now, he will not have that luxury and he will have to use the art of compromise. I am hopeful that he will navigate the treacherous waters of coalition politics and continue to lead the country toward the goal of Viksit Bharat.
(Top photo, Narendra Modi / Facebook.)
Gaurang Vaishnav is a social activist based in Tampa, Florida.
As an outsider with no relation to India, my observation is that Narendra Modi has more support proportionally in the expatriate/ NRIs communities than among general Indian populaion.
The author of the article shows disappointment on the outcome, but perhaps all of the promises of a good life ( Acche din) for the average Indian didn’t materialize on the ground, and despite India’s tremendous growth, the beneficiaries were only the millionaires and billionaires.
But it is admirable that unlike ‘strongmen’ in other nations, he has accepted defeat, and democracy survives.
One may observe that it’s not the same in the neighboring countries
You are right. Let me add this. Though majority of NRI who come from upper caste Hindus like me, are pro BJP, the majority of intellectuals (Economists, journalists, writers) among them are concerned with rise of Hindutva. INDIA alliance had to fight a cash rich BJP , supported by partisan Election commission, politicised enforcement agencies, sycophant TV media & government propaganda on an uneven field. Democracy survived all these hurdles. People have been getting brainwashed with misinformation but fact checkers & freelancer journalists rose to the occasion to counter the fake propaganda. You Tuber Dhruv Rathee was fighting single handedly the mighty BJP IT cell.