Prime Minister Narendra Modi sworn in on Thursday, all the liberals and the leftist will have to cry for another five years. Let Prakash Raj act in films and get a good name. Let Swara Bhaskar get back to her acting and Kanhaiya Kumar to his academics; above all, political party like Aam Aadmi Party seriously needs to do a lot of homework to come back to power in forthcoming elections. Politics is the most complicated subject and it is not understood by the most in recent times. So, many experienced politicians are washed-out in the recent floods. People of India have said a big NO to the age-old Congress party. Modi has no excuse now not to root out corruption including in the states. This is his real chance to go down in history as the true maker of a modern, lawful, and developed India. Will he use it fully? As for Tamil Nadu, expect things to get worse with this double whammy – a corrupt party in power and zero support from the Center that will be in the hands of a party with a super majority that Tamil Nadu shunned at its own peril. Though unlikely, let us hope that Stalin redeems the name of his party with an honest administration that is fewer casteists, too. Right now, BJP has no strong opposition. Congress lacks a strong and promising leader/PM candidate. It had no clear vision/mission/issues for the future. People didn’t want a historically corrupt party back to power.
Calling ‘Chowkidar Chor’ and that too by Congress whose image is on corruption with history of recent 2G scam and many other including Bofors and with leaders on bail in other cases. This has been more damaging since Modi has not been tainted with any scam, or corruption charge. Even in Rafale deal, there has been no hint of corrupt money exchange. No convincing image was created that Rahul could give better governance. If the Hindus were on one side, the minorities were clearly on the other, indicating a deeply polarised verdict. Only 8 per cent of Muslim voters nationally ended up voting for the BJP, the same as last time. Christians and Sikhs too largely kept away from the BJP. Among Christians, 11 per cent voted for the party. Among Sikhs, the number was the same (the Akali Dal, the BJP’s ally, got 20 per cent). This lack of enthusiasm for the BJP among the minority communities is also evident in the party not being able to perform too well in minority-concentrated States like Kerala, Punjab, and Goa. The polarisation of voters on Hindu-Muslim lines seems to have taken place in many States, according to our survey. It was found to be most acute in States where the proportion of Muslims is high, namely, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. Not only did the BJP get a massive proportion of Hindu votes in these States, but this share was also much larger than what it received in the 2014 election. Increased Hindu support for the BJP in these States (and elsewhere too) ended up rendering Muslim consolidation behind the Congress and other Opposition parties ineffective again.
The Congress has suffered a crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In first back-to-back majority in the Lok Sabha polls for a single party in over three decades, the Modi-led BJP won 303 seats out of 542 in the Lok Sabha polls, handing out a crushing defeat to the Congress and many other political opponents. The Congress, which had managed to recover some ground in assembly elections after facing a rout in 2014, has once again failed to reassert itself as a national party. In 2019, the Congress failed to capture the voters’ confidence despite promising several new schemes such as NYAY and an end to the “politics of hate”. The 52-seat Congress tally is in itself embarrassing for the national party, given the fact that it will now not be able to elect a Leader of Opposition. The Congress that once boasted of strong regional leadership is now facing a drought of big names to pull voters, signified by the fact that nine former chief ministers lost on a Congress ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Sheila Dikshit, a veteran leader, and three-time Delhi chief minister, who was behind organising the Commonwealth Games in the capital, lost to actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi constituency by more than 3 lakh votes. Even Priyanka’s magic failed. Right now the Congress has left with nothing. To recover and hide their defeat, the Congress has announced that they will not be participating in any television debate for one month. The decision may have been taken because of the confusion over Rahul Gandhi’s resignation.
The party also does not want to attack the Modi government after it won a massive mandate. Congress announced that no spokesperson from the party will take part in television debates for a month. Sources say that the Congress is unwilling to participate in television debates, as they have no answer about what is happening with the Congress leadership as party president Rahul Gandhi refuses to take back his resignation. Rahul Gandhi has given a month’s time to the party leadership to find his replacement. While top Congress leaders are visiting Rahul Gandhi almost every day to convince him to withdraw his resignation, he is adamant on going back on his decision. Congress has often accused the media of being “biased” towards the Modi government and this might also be one of the reasons for the party to keep away from debates. Moreover, the Congress veterans too need to realise their responsibility in regaining the strength. Somewhere, they all sabotaged their party and brought it down to all lows. Hope this one-month time many give them some time to breathe and stay out of attacks.
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