Narendra Modi, round two

BJP 303 seats, NDA 351. Next biggest party, the Congress, 52, the third and fourth, DMK and AITMC, 23 and 22 respectively. Very clear, decisive mandate. Even the Congress has immediately conceded defeat without petty carping and bickering. To that extent, democracy is still safe, and all disgruntled elements must accept the janaadesh, live with it, and, if they really, strongly dislike the current dispensation, try their utmost to change the public mind by open, legitimate means over the next five years.

The era of Indira Gandhi has returned. This election was not really about the BJP but about Narendra Modi. We are definitely going to become a far more Presidential rather than parliamentary state.

The upsurge of the BJP in Bengal is quite as surprising as its virtual non-existence in all but one of the southern states. This is polarization with a capital P! And Ms. Mamata Banerjee has slipped up very badly, seasoned and canny political player as she is: the future might be grim indeed for her and her party unless she can very quickly put her house in order and go on the warpath with a far better strategy in mind.

All inconveniences over things like Aadhar, demonetization and GST have apparently been forgiven or forgotten by the masses. Nor did the Dalit discontent or the farmers’ matter in the end. Whereas Pulwama and Balakot, tragedy and theatrics notwithstanding, have certainly helped a very great deal. Let lessons be learnt from this by all parties concerned.

The political discourse has turned very definitely towards a far more jingoistic and religion-oriented outlook (Rahul Gandhi has been visiting shrine after shrine, and all Didi could do was to keep reiterating that we don’t need Ram and Hanuman, because we have our own Durga and Kali to bow to). Simultaneously, leftism as we have known it has been definitely wiped out. We must not only accept that, but ponder over the why, and over the likely consequences in the medium- and long run.

If politics has always been far more about perception than about hard facts, the opposition must learn, if it wants to survive and bounce back, that its image needs a complete overhaul. The parties involved, barring perhaps Patnaik’s BJD in Odisha, have etched such a deep-seated image in the public mind about being venal, incompetent and fractious, that they never had a chance against the BJP bulldozer. Above everything else, the Congress Party will die as the Left has unless it can shed the albatross called the Gandhi family from around its neck.

The young – educated in science, aspiring to be doctors and engineers – voted BJP in droves. That too, needs to be understood by every party which is hoping to have a future.

Will our Constitution and our higher courts survive? That will be one of the biggest questions that need to be answered. As for the media, I have no hopes – as was said when Mrs. Gandhi declared an Emergency, ‘they were asked to bend, and they crawled’. Especially when I know, from very painful and intimate experience, what kind of scum have become mediapersons over the last twenty years.

Would it be wise for me to don my upabeet (sacred thread) again?

I wrote a post here about the massive BJP victory back in May 2014 with a broadly congratulatory and hopeful attitude. It was titled Dawn of a new era, but there was a question mark at the end. The last five years, the most levelheaded and non-partisan observer will agree, has been a mixed bag at best. The BJP has worked a miracle at the hustings this time, no question about that: as so many have already noted, it’s the first time a ruling party has beaten the anti-incumbency factor so resoundingly since the early 1970s. Surely it would be churlish to deny that Team Modi-Shah have won a thumping approval from the electorate. And certainly, although they have been greatly helped by luck – as all winners must be – they must be admired for their determination, steadfast vision, organizational skill and incredible campaigning energy. Now it remains to be seen what they will do with this huge mandate. There have been bigger ones before which were largely wasted: Rajiv Gandhi’s 1984 victory comes to mind. And no position at the top of the pole can be held for very long, especially in broadly democratic setups: contrary storms rise sooner or later and sweep the most impregnable fortresses away. The PM knows this. He has said, immediately after learning of the victory, that his responsibility has increased manifold. And I believe it is true that he does want to turn India quickly into a really big and powerful economy, so that she can emerge as one of the global leaders on his watch. If only because that would allow him to strut as much as he wants to on the largest of all stages. If so, he will know better than anyone else, that the government needs to focus ferociously on an agenda of domestic peace, stability as well as all-round and inclusive progress. Therein lies the hope for the likes of me.

If I do vote in the general election of 2024, I shall be a senior citizen then!

[P.S., May 26: I should like to link this editorial in The Hindu for reflecting my own mood of cautious hopefulness. On the other hand, here is a harshly critical and grim criticism of the state of affairs in India. If and when the incumbent government takes steps to shut the writer up or worse, I shall know that my worst fears are beginning to come true.]