BJP's below par performance - Election 2024

 The Bollywood actor Anupam Kher playing the role of Dr. Dang from the movie KARMA in the late 1980s after receiving a tight slap from Dilip Kumar screams - "ISS THAPPAD KI GUNJ SUNI TUMNE" (Did you hear the reverberation from this slap) ? I am now reminded of this dialog, post the tight slap received by BJP after the party's pyrrhic victory in the recently concluded Parliament Elections in India. If I am allowed to extrapolate the signals coming from the voters of the country as they punched the electronic voting machines, it's time for BJP, India's right wing Nationalist Party to smell the Coffee and wake up. 

Contrary to the common belief, the Indian electorates are the smartest lot. Since independence they have been making their governments accountable, changing them as and when needed - so that no political party can take them for granted. As crop rotation is known for enhancing the productivity of the soil, changing things and positions brings spice out of life, similarly government rotations and changing power is the much needed check and balance in a democracy. It is required to curb corruption and inefficiency.

Indians voted out a popular Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1977 for her misuse of power when she took the voters for granted by imposing Emergency followed by brutality on its citizens. Similar, though not the same happened today, as voters sent a clear message to the BJP led NDA as it struggled and just made it to the half way mark. 

The party should thank my home state of  Odisha for saving its skin by sending 20 invaluable MPs to its kitty. Otherwise today BJP would be preparing for sitting in the opposition. The Odias also voted for a change in their state by removing Naveen Patnaik who has been ruling without a break for last 24 years. Many first time voters are going to a new Chief Minister in Odisha for the first time in life. 

Does it mean that this is beginning of the end of Modi magic ? Not so fast. But one can't deny that there is clearly a dent in his image as public histrionics has its limitations. Being a good salesman he should have known that a product has an expiry date. But power makes folks blind not able to see what's coming. 

Why BJP's performance wasn't upto mark in this election ? There are many. First and foremost is the arrogance that crept into the party's top echelon, the Modi - Saha duo who ran the country as their personal fiefdom showing dictatorial tendency. They would send ED, CBI against their opponents, arrest them with impunity and send them to jail, break legitimately elected government by doing horse trading if they don't fall in line. This didn't go unnoticed to the public, as public display of arrogance is the biggest enemy of a politician. BJP's top brass should take a cue from Odisha's gentle and suave Naveen Patnaik who never shows any arrogance in public, rarely speaks ill of his political opponents. He lasted 24 long years and probably could have lasted longer unless he didn't have Pandian campaigning by his side. 

After building the Ram temple in Ayodhya last January, BJP thought they sealed the deal in UP, the politically important state which contributes 80 seats, the largest number of members to the Parliament. The party became complacent and made bad candidate selections. One of them was a B-grade actor Arun Govil who was given ticket to run in Meerut, UP and publicly boasted of changing India's Constitution once BJP gets 400 Paar (more than 400). Such silly remarks by immature leaders from BJP backfired on it big time. The construction of Sri Ram temple barely helped, as BJP lost Faizabad constituency which has Ayodhya as part of it. 

India has a gargantuan population inching towards 1.5 billion. Unemployment is a big issue. Many in North India look forward to joining Army which provides them a secured job and secures them a bride. Now when the BJP government brought the Agniveer scheme of temporary military employment on contract basis, it didn't go well with the youth who were looking for a full time job. Political sidelining of Rani (Queen) Vasundhara Raje alienated the Rajputs in Rajasthan, BJP loosing a good number of seats in that state which it swept last two elections. 

The Electoral Bond scam, though not much of an issue during the campaign trail, made a dent on BJP's image incorruptible. Plus the election being held in the middle of an unusually hot Indian summer led to voter fatigue and low turnout which prevented the committed BJP voters from coming out to vote. And many more reasons are there beyond the scope of this blog... 

Is it going to be the end of Modi era ? Not sure. Things can change for better for BJP if they learnt from their mistakes. Public memory could be short. Indira Gandhi who was swept out of power in 1977, made a spectacular come back couple of years later, her Emergency atrocities forgotten. A week is a long time in politics, 5 years is eons away. BJP leadership still has time to mend their way. Modi is still the undisputed leader at the center, his closest rival Rahul Gandhi isn't even close to him. The influence of other rival  leaders are at best territorial in nature. 

BJP has a presence at national level (except most of South of the Vindhyas) and being in power for long it has money and the powerful machinery at its disposal. It can certainly overcome the anti incumbency factor. Hope BJP learns a lesson from their below par performance, changes its game plans and strategy accordingly. They need to shed their arrogance and focus on governance. People are also getting tired of divisive politics. But will BJP and Modi Bhakts ever learn their lesson ? Your guess is as good as mine.