Capital Punishment – Modi Eats Humble Pie – Indian Currents Editorial

Now People Set the Agenda – Dr. Suresh Mathew (Indian Currents)

People in general cannot be hoodwinked by an individual or party for long. This is the undeniable message the Delhi Assembly elections have sent out. The electorate have proved it twice in the last one-and-a-half years. After the BJP announced Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate in September 2013, it took only eight months for him to turn the tide in his favour. That was people’s response to UPA regime which was neck-deep in corruption charges. But in another eight months, the tide has turned against Mr. Modi and his party with the Aam Aadmi Party defeating BJP in Delhi. In the process the Congress too got obliterated. People found Modi’s promises hollow and his government’s policies divisive.  

There are several other points to ponder in the Delhi results. It underscores people’s rising expectations; they are not willing to tolerate a government which does not deliver on promises. People voted for BJP in the general elections on the assurance that the new government will rein in rising prices and make the lives of ordinary people easier. Instead, governance took a backseat and the Hindutva elements were given a free-run. They ran roughshod over minority communities. Leaders like Sakshi Maharaj and Niranjan Jyoti unleashed a no-holds barred attack against minorities. The ghar vapsi episodes were a direct challenge to the minority communities and the latter hit back at the earliest available opportunity. Thus the Modi government antagonised the poor, the Dalits and the minorities who in turn gave vent their ire. There was massive shift in their votes from the BJP. They wholeheartedly supported Arvind Kejrival and his party to halt the victory march of the saffron party.

The Delhi election result is also an unqualified rejection of Modi brand of politics which has traits of dictatorship. Mr. Modi and party president Amit Shah together have become the only decision-making authority, reducing other leaders in the party to rumps. This authoritarianism has created rift within the party. The imposing of a rank outsider Kiran Bedi as the party’s chief ministerial face in Delhi only added to the woes at the local level. With Mr. Modi undertaking a negative campaign calling his opponents names, the script was well written for the party’s downfall. An analysis of the performance of BJP in Delhi in the last Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections brings out the enormity of its loss. It had won 32 seats in the 2013 State elections and was leading in 60 of the 70 constituencies in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. But, in a few months’ time, its tally nosedived to a mere 3. There cannot be a bigger loss of face for the party, especially when it is trying to spread its wings across the country.

It was Mr. Modi who represented change in 2014. It is AAP behind the ‘Delhi revolution’ in 2015. There is a common factor behind both the historic changes: promises and expectations; promises by the leaders and expectations of the people. Whenever and wherever these two clash, it will be time for yet another change.  

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1 Response

  1. KM Sebastian says:

    The articles on Church attacks and other features are very enlightening. I have read them and my heart goes out in prayer for those Christians who had to suffer for their faith. May God fill them with joy and courage!

    KM Sebastian

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