Why BJP did so bad in Uttar Pradesh? One reason -- is sheer over confidence that we have got the Ram Temple and hence votes would pour in autoatically.
It is this over confidence ... that made BJP leaders declare that the party may even win 80 seats. Even Narendra Modi -- the maestro of reading people's pulse - could not gauge the mood that the so called 'Ram Leher' practically did not exist.
Hence goes our argument -- The complexities of the voters' mind especially among Hindus is best described in the phrase 'wheels within wheels'.
A grand temple to Hindu god-king Lord Ram that Narendra Modi inaugurated on January 22, 2024 had also not boosted the BJP's fortunes as it was expected to. Of course, the BJP also lost in Ayodhya and Faizabad parliamentary constituency.
But does all that means -- there is a strong message/signal that BJP's 'communal politics' or the Hindutva might have reached its limits and rejected ?
How could the civilisational achievements of many centuries and a civilisational hero -- that is Narendra Modi has been rejected?
Is it a kind of civilisational clash? The rise of Hindutva meant -- the rise of Hindus -but people of Uttar Pradesh themselves have paid such a big price !!
Can we sense an ideological bias? How would the Christian world behave if the mandate of Ayodhya is replicated or even imagined in Vatican city ??
Among Hindus those who hate Modi ... for whatever reasons ... forgot all these !!
Modi's decade between 2014 and 2024 was a significant timespace. Here the nation - Bharat - went for embracing and re-discovering traditional ideas and perspectives. Some people who thrived with the narratives of post-1947 doctrine would even call it a 'desi perspective'. But this 'desi' logic does not mean it should be rejected. The bigger issue is something else.
The self-interest of a community was hit by Modi's culture of politics and the politics of culture he tried. Muslims united to vote for Trinamool in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh is not communal ? But Hindus voting for Ram temple is communal?
Do not miss the rejoice in Pakistani newspaper headline that describes Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu as 'pro-Muslim' leaders !!
Hindus of Uttar Pradesh largely voted on caste lines and not as Hindus. Muslims voted en bloc against the BJP. The BJP must be feeling betrayed by Hindu voters of Uttar Pradesh. This is a setback for the Hindutva project which aims to unite Hindus by diluting caste identities.The pain inflicted by Uttar Pradesh to the BJP will take a lot of time to heal. - R Vijay, Mumbai
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