New Delhi, Dec 24 The defeat in the recent Jharkhand polls and a flip-flop in Maharashtra played spoilsport for BJP’s record electoral success in this year’s parliamentary elections.
However, the electorate has placed the Bharatiya Janata Party at the centre stage and contemporary Indian political history seems set to shed its status quo.
The dangerous ramifications of 'Modified India'-as the opposition parties put it-- pose a threat to pluralism, says senior Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury.
But there is more to it in the BJP story for circa 2019 during which the saffron party ensured abrogation of Article 370, enacted Triple Talaq law and pushed for Citizenship Amendment Act, setting off widespread protests for being ''discriminatory'' towards Muslims.
Since Independence, politics has mainly centered around the Indian National Congress, which ruled the country for a total 52 years with the odd interval. It was a dominance that waned in 2014 and the 2019 elections virtually ended it.Now that the people and electorate has placed BJP at the center as the new national party with 303 Lok Sabha seats, Indian political history is sure to shed its status quo.The Citizenship Amendment Act imbroglio only strengthens this argument.In West Bengal -- where BJP faced social ‘pariah’ status for long with organisational weaknesses--the party has this year 18 Lok Sabha MPs – almost three times its motley crew of seven legislators in the state Assembly.
Now there is a new Citizenship Act and it is 'feared' this law will virtually ‘justify’ influx of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh and would add to the Prime Minister ‘s vote-share in Assam, possibly in other northeastern states and especially in West Bengal.
It goes without saying that polarisation has always suited Mr Modi and his party – because of the peculiarity involved in electoral politics.
Moreover, BJP’s foot soldiers and faceless voters feel PM Modi has successfully presented himself as a ‘strong’ Hindu leader - and thus at times as a strong leader, he is expected not only to deal with Muslims in India but also teach Pakistan a lesson.
The saffron party's politics in 2019 also need to be scrutinised closely through the prism of Uttar Pradesh - the nation's most populous state which sends 80 MPs to the House of the People.
Governance remains an issue in this Hindi heartland province where the BJP gave a priest-turned-neta as the Chief Minister.
In choosing Yogi Adityanath--known for following an ascetic lifestyle based on yoga--it was presumed Narendra Modi has not only authorised him to anchor BJP's future journey in the north but also given Hindu groups a new generation of leadership.
The saffron-clad Adityanath, born Ajay Singh Bisht, is 22 years younger than Modi himself.
Political commentators know BJP has a 'new face' in UP.
It goes without saying elections require a face. Ideologies hardly matter. The saffron party deserves credit for being visionary in creating such figures--staunch Hindutva leaders in Modi, Shah and Yogi Adityanath--while the Opposition is still in search of a unifying face; and as they say - the Congress party is still stuck in the syndrome of dynasty and political spirit of 1970s.
Election results in Delhi and Bihar in 2020 will create ground for a more intense war cry in West Bengal and Assam in the subsequent year.
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