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| Art of seeing writing on the wall | | | Hari Om | 10/22/2014 9:48:14 PM |
| The BJP and Prime Minister Modi should be recognised as a power, with which all other political parties and formations have to and must reckon, whatever they may think of the two and their ideology
The very resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have a vast passionate constituency across the nation, and even outside, should be accepted as the chief factor in the
Indian political situation. They should also be recognised as a power with which all other political parties and formations have to deal and with whom they have to and must reckon, whatever they may think of the two and their principles and ideology. Particularly those in the National Democratic Alliance, who would under-estimate them at this point of time, refuse to feel the people's pulse, understand the changing demographics of the electorate and walk out of the BJP-led coalition, will have to pay the price of unpopularity and could even face political extinction.It happened to Mr Nitish Kumar, who took the Janata Dal (United) out of the NDA, ending the 17-year-old alliance after cursing Mr Modi, who was then only the Chief Minister of Gujarat and chairman of the BJP's national election campaign committee. His party was trounced by Bihar's politically-alienated electorate in the just-held Lok Sabha election. The magnitude of the defeat of the JD(U) could be gauged from the fact that its tally of 20 in the 2009 Lok Sabha election was reduced to a paltry two, and the spectacular victory of the BJP so rattled Mr Nitish Kumar that he quit the office of Chief Minister, saying he took the step on "moral grounds".
The humiliating defeat of the 'secular' Nitish Kumar, who was aspiring to be the Prime Minister, was the first clear signal to others in the NDA that they would surely gain by further cementing their ties with the BJP or become irrelevant at the national, if not the State, level, in case they behaved like the inflexible and "over-ambitious" Mr Nitish Kumar behaved. In fact, the May 2014 national verdict that booted out of power the 10-year-old discredited and corrupt Congress-led UPA Government and gave a massive mandate to the BJP, had indicated that the national mood was in favour of the BJP in general and Mr Modi in particular, and that this phenomenon would continue to influence electoral exercises in the States as well for years to come. his became manifestly clear on October 19, when the BJP created a history of sorts in the crucial Congress-ruled States of Maharashtra and Haryana, where its support-base was limited. The BJP, which, under compulsion, went to the polls all alone in these States, not only dislodged the 15-year old Congress-NCP coalition Government in Maharashtra and the 10-year-old Congress Government in Haryana, but also decimated the grand old party of India (the Congress), the NCP and the Haryana Janhit Congress. These parties were not at all in the reckoning. The BJP, which had won only 46 seats in Maharashtra in alliance with the sub-regional Shiv Sena in 2009 and polled about 14 per cent of the total popular votes polled, won 120+ seats in the 288-member House and polled 27.8 per cent votes.It also won the election hands down in Haryana and from number four, rose to the top position. It won more than 45 seats in the 90-member House, as against its 2009 tally of just four seats, and got 33.2 per cent of the total votes polled. The Congress lost in both the States despite the fact that it, unlike the BJP, had projected its chief ministerial candidates - Prithviraj Chavan, also called a 'Manmohan Singh-like figure' and 'bechara', and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the incumbent two-time Chief Minister of Haryana.
Mr Uddhav Thackeray was, of course, fortunate because his party improved its position and emerged as the number two party. The Shiv Sena improved its tally by 19 seats, and the credit for the show the Shiv Sena put up goes to the BJP because the Maharashtra electorate believed that the Shiv Sena would patch up with the BJP sooner than later, as they are natural allies. It voted for the winnable candidates belonging to both these parties. In fact, the Shiv Sena on October 18 hinted at a possible "reconciliation" with its former ally. An editorial in Saamna, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece said: "Hearts have been broken. Though it is difficult to mend broken hearts, Maharashtra needs stability and peace". The BJP also reciprocated the gesture, saying the Shiv Sena "is a friend" and that "we did not break the alliance".
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in a way is intact because the latter is still part of the Modi Government and the BJP is supporting the Shiv Sena in the Mumbai civic body. This much for the former BJP's allies who got what they got due to their own political miscalculations.
Courtesy: Daily Pioneer |
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