COMMENTARY
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh – the election results tend to indicate that things do change, and the BJP is not necessarily an election winning machine.
Editorial Staff
No matter how you see through the statistics, the game of numbers, caste equation, and the strategy of government formation, one thing is certain. These are not very good times for the BJP. Even if it is not so great for the Congress, the fact is that these elections have somehow shattered the illusion that the ruling BJP-backed by powerful media houses–succeeded in spreading throughout our society: there is no alternative to Mr. Narendra Modi or the party he leads, and Mr. Amit Shah is a magician who can never experience a defeat. Well, the lesson that we get is that nothing is permanent–even the doctrine that Mr. Modi is the most ‘powerful’ Prime Minister (more charismatic than even Nehru) India has ever seen.
Possibly, the results indicate that even if a potentially authoritarian regime propagates the belief that ‘there is no alternative’, people–ordinary people–rise up, and in silence make the rulers humble; they are taught a couple of important lessons. The arrogance of power, the toxic words that characterize the likes of Sambit Patra, the fiery speech through which Amit Shah speaks of ‘faith’ and ‘nationalism’, and the continual melodramatic performance (when words matter more than actions; when lofty promises as colourful bubbles hypnotize; or when, despite every possible evidence and critique, GST or demonetization is seen as a virtue) by our Prime Minister–nothing remains eternally appealing; things fall apart.
No, the BJP is not an election winning machine; Amit Shah’s tricks do not work all the time; and Modi too fails in assuring absolute success for the party. This is the basic message the election results convey. Even if the BJP–with the power of money and instrumentality of coalition politics–manages to form the government in one of these states–be it Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, it has lost its hold; it is crumbling. Not to see it is to fall into the trap of mass deception.
Is it possible for the Congress to offer something strikingly different? Not ‘soft Hindutva’, not mild neoliberalism, not token welfarism, but a truly pro-people governance cherishing the practices of distributive justice and cultural pluralism? This is a complex question.
At one level, our electoral process has its limits. The sheer expenditure for contesting the election and mobilizing people makes it absolutely impossible for truly honest/dedicated activists to take part in this process. Big parties, big funding, muscle power, propaganda machinery–these necessary ‘techniques’ needed for taking part in the elections invite all sorts of corruption, or some sort of unholy alliance with the corporate lobby. Yes, the BJP seems to have taken this game to an absurd height. However, even the Congress cannot be said to be altogether free from these ‘necessary vices’. In a way, corruption is the sub-text of our politics.
Yet, these results do indicate a possibility. The opposition is likely to gain the momentum for restoring its spirit of struggle; and the necessity of a determined/united forum against a potentially fascist regime may be felt more strongly-at least by the sensible ones. One has to wait and see.
However, at this very moment one thing is becoming clear: Mr. Modi is no God; and Mr. Rahul Gandhi is not an ‘idiot’ as projected by the entire cabinet of Mr. Modi through all sorts of ‘press conferences’.
