KS Muralidharan
Imagine a suspense movie where the suspense is revealed, not at the end of the second half, but at the intermission! That’s how one feels after the results of elections to the 5 states. Electorally speaking, 2024 has arrived, in 2023.
The writing is now on the wall and in-your-face. Only Modi can defeat Modi. The opposition has to pray for a fatal blunder to be committed by Modi, and even then only hope for the best. That’s like anticipating a black swan event. Gandhi & co and their domestic keeps and international cohorts can keep dreaming. Till 2024 wakes them up with yet another mother of all nightmares. (The End…)
The semi-final results are similar to the buy-one-get-one-free scheme: Win the assembly polls, get 2024 win for free. The fear-mongering political commentariat can take a walk. All the surround sound that fed a narrative that a third term for Modi was hardly a cakewalk and that the BJP could be limited to the 220s or so in the Lok Sabha polls will now turn mute.
The opinion polls and the exit polls managed to only spot a silhouette-like sliver of the Modi magic, with barely a few exceptions. But ironically, the so-called Godhi media sensed it, like for example, Rajagopalan, who exuded irrational confidence that BJP would win all 3 states, Rajasthan, MP & Chattisgarh. So next time round, do not discount the supposedly pro-BJP media!
The conscience-keepers of the opposition keep ranting that 60& of the voters are not BJP supporters. Now this spiel too is set for a burial. By the way, if you take this at face-value, merely because BJP has just over 40% vote share, you have to also accept that the secularists’ great paragon of virtue, Jawaharlal Nehru also managed only 45% for the Congress, in 1952, the first elections in free India. Even this achievement has to be taken with a jar of salt since Nehru enjoyed a huge advantage in the afterglow of the freedom movement, and despite being Mahatma Gandhi’s anointed heir. Without this massive historic advantage, it is not at all inconceivable that Congress under Nehru was in mortal danger of losing the polls! Whereas Modi’s NDA has got as much if not more votes than Nehru, at 45.89% — without any help from history and despite the whole world being ranged against him. That’s another milestone going asunder for the Congress.
With BJP’s fortunes now sky-high, Modi should take the bull by its horns and go for the kill by doing what he does best: Shock and Awe the opposition — by contesting from Tamilnadu. The time is ripe to move beyond rumours and girdle the Dravidian lions in their own den. With party leader, Annamalai’s caravan making waves and heating up the campaign trail, Modi’s announcement that he is now ready to serve the Tamil Makkal (people) can be Modi’s parting electoral gift to the BJP.
Well, Modi hai toh Mumkin hai. Think Bengal. With PM Modi on the ticket contesting from Tamilnadu (apart from Varanasi, of course), winning 112–15 seats can well qualify for Ripley’s Believe-It-Ort-Not. It will also effectively silence the opposition’s taunt that BJP is a north-Indian party. Plus, Hindi, finally, will not be a cussword in TN.
After the phanauti boomerang on Rahul Gandhi, it’s now time for him to reap the harvest of his pick-pocket remark on Modi: Modi should pick TN and pocket the votes. Modi’s good luck is also largely due to Rahul Gandhi’s own bad luck, now a certified phanauti (bad omen) for himself and his party. The stark lesson in this for all is: Think a hundred times before badmouthing Modi, lest it return to bite you with the force multiplier of a hundred.
Even after a resounding slap from the voters in the Hindi heartland, Rahul Gandhi declared like a sore loser that “the battle for ideology would continue”. In other words, he will continue to be BJP’s biggest insurance policy and vote-getter! Now you know why the BJP’s lotus blooms in muddy waters.
And by the way, what is this “ideological battle” which is so dear to Rahul Gandhi? Fake and false soft Hindutva, appeasing the minorities, and badmouthing India overseas. This has virtually lost its currency. In 2024, it will be completely demonetised and banished to oblivion.
Of course, BJP is not immune to making mistakes. It’s one blunder — of packing off Bandi Sanjay, the man who built the party from a near letterhead organisation to be counted till recently as a potential challenger to the ruling BRS, to Delhi — cost it a clean sweep. But unlike the Congress, BJP is smart and open enough to course correct and it will.
For the Congress, its place in the INDI Alliance will also nosedive to be just another alliance partner. National party only in name, like for example the Communists. A bit harsh, but wait for post-2024 when its governments in Karnataka and Telengana will inevitably self-destruct.
As for the future state of the secular media, a leopard cannot change its spots, but it has to be spotted in the first place! Be that as it may, it will continue to whine and whimper. Eg: For The New Indian Express, the Congress’ getting a mere 4 seats more than a simple majority (54/119) in Telengana was a “thumping victory”, whereas the BJP getting 10 seats more than a two-thirds majority (163/230) was only “managing to hold on to power”! And no credit either to the BJP for its victory which was due to Congress’ over-confidence!
For the embedded anti-Modi liberals who are otherwise open-minded, this is verily the last mental frontier for them to introspect: Modi’s India’s GDP is looking to ace 8% growth, and becoming a $5 trillion economy in a few years from now, India under Modi is today an accomplished and recognised global leader. Some of Modi’s initiatives like digitalization are making heads turn in the world’s financial capitals. Infrastructure is growing by leaps and bounds across the country. Poverty in India is now more than likely to become history in less than a decade. Despite all this, if they are still missing the wood for the trees and can’t accept the truth, they are sadly going to miss the excitement of what is going to unfold after 2024.
It is perfectly ok to revise one’s views and accept that we were wrong about Modi. After all, a lot of people now think they were wrong about M.K. Gandhi either…!