By HARVINDER AHUJA
BJP win in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections can’t be taken as endorsement its brand of politics
Having won Gujarat for the sixth straight time and also wresting power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh recently, the BJP mayhave started eyeing a comfortable victory in 2019 national elections. But everything is not hunky-dory for the party and it would be a folly if its top leadership is deludedinto thinking that the country is in its grip.
In fact, the Gujarat win should ring alarm bells within the party instead of giving it any reasons to gloat over. As against its pre-poll ‘Mission-150’ bravado, the party had to suffice itself with 99 seats. The tally of the BJP is merely a few seats above the half-way mark needed to win the Assembly. On the contrary, the Congress Party put up a tough fight and came up with its best-ever performance in the past two decades.
Not just that! The poll campaign in the state also witnessed the lowest-ever in Indian politics with both parties trying to outdo each other in mud-slinging and character assassination. Throughout the campaign, the BJP never brought up its much-touted ‘Gujarat model’ of development or offered any substantive vision before the people of Gujarat. What largely clinched the matter for the BJP was the shrewd manner in which Modi could turn to its advantage an insolent remark made by Congress loudmouth Mani Shankar Aiyar.
The slim margin of BJP victory in Gujarat was proof enough that the party had no impressive scorecard to display on governance front, be it in the state or at the Centre. It also manifested the disenchantment of the people against manifold failures of the Modi Government, particularly on economic front. And this may cost the party dear when it goes before the electorate in 2019.
There is pervasive anger among the youth in the country against the Government’s failure to create jobs as promised by it in the run-up to 2014 elections. The aftereffects of the quixotic demonetisation exercise are still being felt in many sectors. The hurriedly-implemented GST is giving sleepless nights to businesses across domains. Both the decisions have been particularly damaging for the informal or unorganised sector, which constitutes a huge chunk.
On the social front also, there islittle sign of things taking a turn for the better. Regressive and bigoted forces, which started rearing their head ever since thepresent Government came to power, are refusing to take a backseat. Hardly a day passes when an incident of intolerant or communal nature is not highlighted in the media. Though some would like to dub these as “stray incidents” engineered by “fringe elements” within the party, silence at the top is giving them encouragement. Many a time, provocative and ill-conceived remarks by those holding power in the party or the Government are adding fuel to the fire.
Only recently, MoS for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Anant kumar Hegde threw a shocker when he said the BJP had come to power to “change the Constitution” and would do so in the “near future”. Addressing an event organised by the Brahman Yuva Parishadin Koppal district of Karnataka, the minister also heaped scorn on “secularists”, saying they were “people without parentage”.
On the same day, there was another report in newspapers about Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Adhir telling doctors that they “should join Naxals” and “we will then shoot you with bullets”. According to reports, the minster resorted to use of such intemperate language as he was apparently upset over the absence of senior doctors at an inaugural function at Chandrapur in Nagpur district of Maharashtra.
Though it took Hegde almost a week to apologise for his remarks after coming under fire from the Opposition, no action was taken by the party against either him or Ahir. It is this kind of immunity tacitly granted to those in power which is fanning a vicious atmosphere in the country. And this is what is alienating the socially-conscious and law-abiding citizens from the BJP brand of politics. Even those, who had voted for the party with lots of hope, are gradually getting impatient, and even frustrated.
With disillusionment rising against the Modi Government at the Centre, exploration for a viable alternative has also started gathering pace. It’s good that Rahul Gandhi, who has recently been elevated as the President of the Congress Party, has started peaking at the right time but he is certainly not the alternative, at least at this stage. He has started making right kind of noises, gaining modicum of respectability among young and educated and hogging more media space of late but still he is no match to Modi’s popularity, oratorical skills and election-winning capabilities. The rest of the Opposition remains as localised, or fragmented, as ever.
It is this kind of political vacuum which is making the BJP win Gujarat and Himachal and may even take it through in other state Assembly elections due next year. But to take these victories as an endorsement of the brand of politics practiced by the party or as rewards for its Government’s achievements would be wrong.
The 2019 election may yield a new story, as one year, they say, is a long time in politics!
