With an incredible defeat the NDA needs to rethink on what its realities are.
It was the muffler man who first showed that the much-hyped stranglehold of Modi-Shah can be broken. So decisive was his win that a headline writer at Times of India came out with sheer beauty, “Wall to wall Kejriwal.”
And now in what the media called the mini-elections, parties have proven that the BJP can be beaten and beaten 5-0. Of course, the margins of victory have not been anywhere close to being as sensational as Delhi’s four years ago.
The wily old fox wins
In Telangana, the wily fox KCR walked away with a massive 88 seats, which many believe was just dessert for his developmental agenda. It is another matter that the prime minister in his electoral campaign had taken potshots at the chief minister for promoting his son and relatives. That come 2019 the BJP would align with the TRS is an indication of how politics encourages mutual abusers to become bedfellows. The grand alliance of Rahul-Naidu came unstuck under the sheer force of KCR’s popularity. That 22 lakh people, representing 8 per cent of the voting population, disappeared from the voters’ list was a side drama.
Proud rajmata loses
Elsewhere in Rajasthan Maharani Raje did far better than what was expected. The state lived to its reputation of altering between the Congress and the BJP, a ritual that it has practised to perfection over the last 25 years. I would think the Congress lost the opportunity of blooding Scindia to the chief minister slot, by handing it out to the old, tried and tested, and therefore tired Gehlot. Surely, Sachin Pilot, with his record as a Union Minister in the UPA days and as the President of the state Congress would have made for a younger and better choice. By the way, here the grand old party has no reason to gloat as it scarcely managed to cross the halfway mark. Morally, it was a hung assembly.
Naming Sachin Pilot as his deputy under the circumstances is the right thing, and the two must work together to make it tango.
A cliffhanger
Madhya Pradesh was no different. In fact, it was a closer match. Here too no party got an absolute majority except for the fact both Congress and BJP came perilously close to the winning line, with the Congress breasting, aided by the other parties. The SP and the BSP’s public hostility towards the BJP helped Kamal Nath form the government. It is another example of a missed opportunity. Surely, Scindia Junior, given his past performance as a Central minister in the UPA government, would have been a better choice. But as in industry, in politics the young will have to wait for their term, unless they have all stitched up by someone else. The good news is that the two selections were apparently made based on seeking people’s feedback via an App.
Ally wins and a decisive mandate
In Mizoram, the MDF won by a vast distance leaving the Congress far behind. Of course, the BJP can take heart from the fact that it is an NDA partner and that with this defeat the Congress isn’t ruling any of the North Eastern states.
It was in Chhattisgarh that a decisive mandate came about knocking the stuffing out of the BJP and Raman Singh. A humiliating defeat, if there ever was one. But the Congress has its job cut out. When you get 75 per cent of the assembly seats, you know you have enormous responsibilities on hand. Raman Singh had done more than a good job during his tenure, and it will take much catching up for the Congress to do.
Lessons for all
Most importantly, the Congress needs to hold its team together. It needs to develop and encourage tall leaders at the state level. It has to be chary of the wounded fox Amit Shah whose rants in Telangana gave us a glimpse of how low the political discourse can go. It was, however pleasant to see the prime minister accept the defeat with humility and to see Rahul Gandhi praise the chief ministers of the losing party.If this is an indication of the changing face of India’s political discourse, that’s wonderful. Incidentally, more than the losing party the ones who were most worried by the turn of events were Republic and the Times Now television channels. You had anchor Navika Kumar ask an MLA of Madhya Pradesh as to how much money the Congress was offering. She dared not ask how much the BJP had offered.
