Narendra Modi’s golden opportunity to reform India

“The elections have clearly established that the most dominant political figure in India is Prime Minister Modi and he has a pan-India appeal”, Chidambaram had told a gathering at the Indian Merchants Chamber in Mumbai yesterday.

He asked the people to take a pledge and express their commitment to building a new India on his Narendra Modi Mobile App. “We will win in Uttar Pradesh”.

The simple truth that eludes those still in denial about BJP and Modi’s ascendancy is this: Agendas and narratives can bring electoral dividends only up to a point in such a huge, heterogeneous, multi-ethnic, multi-faith democracy such as ours. Behind all the chatter for development and the pro-poor push of the Prime Minister, one thing was clear, Ram temple was now irrelevant.

“The outcome of this election will enable Modi to sharpen his winning anti-corruption and improved governance policies as he begins to position himself for the 2019 general election”, wrote analysts Shailesh Kumar and Sasha Riser-Kositsky of macro advisory firm Eurasia Group.

“What would have happened if he had talked about “kabristan” on day one?” This perception was further strengthened as the month-long, seven-phase election gathered momentum. “Why can law-and-order not be maintained in a single phase. does Uttar Pradesh not have a police force?” Not only did the party win 312 seats – nearly close to its 2014 tally of 317 – the victory has turned all previous election arithmetic, political calculus for winning the Hindi heartland upside down.

For one, the balance of power in India has now decisively swung in favour of the BJP, and reinforces the party’s position as the central pole in India’s politics.

Uttarakhand 2012Various Exit Polls predicted a close fight between the BJP and the Congress party.

“There are no local, circle and ward committees”.

“We can confirm that 11 security personnel have lost their lives in the ambush which was carried out by Maoist rebels in Sukma district”, police deputy inspector general Sundarraj P said.

Modi’s BJP now heads the government in states where more than half of Indians live, while the Congress party, which has ruled India for most of the 70 years since independence, leads in regions covering less than 8pc of the population.

For Mayawati, ten years away from the corridors of power could mean a no-return situation. “Our party does not have that power”, he said.

Amid chants of “Bharat mata ki jai” and “Modi, Modi”, BJP president Amit Shah thanked “the hero of UP’s victory”, for his leadership and welcomed PM Modi to deliver his victory speech.

That seemed to change in 2014, when the BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Brokerages broadly view the strong performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent state elections as a positive for the markets and said it shows the continued popularity of the Modi government even after last year’s demonetisation drive. It can gloat about Punjab, which it has swept, and possibly about Manipur and Goa where it might be able to form governments. Reports had just come in that BSP’s tally in Uttar Pradesh had nosedived to 19 seats, the party’s worst performance since 1991.

Therefore, when Modi says, “The poor of the nation has left the mentality of liking somebody only because he has been given something”. However, members of the Brahmin community, who were willing to give the Congress another chance, shifted allegiance to the BJP after the party tied up the Samajwadi Party.