- The BJP won two provincial governments in the North-east
By Nava Thakuria
Amidst all criticisms for majority-based politics, Hindu-centric propaganda and one man worship, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) triumphed again in the recently concluded Indian national elections. With an undercurrent of cautious nationalism, the NDA notched a tally of up to 353 in the 543 member Lok Sabha.
The BJP alone emerged victorious in 303 seats, crossing the
magic number needed (272) to form the federal government in New Delhi, where the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress along with its allies remained restricted within 100 seats. The rightist political party, led by hardliner Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also succeeded in spreading its presence to almost all corners of the vast country.
The north-eastern region witnessed a very peaceful, participatory and smooth electoral process that might have helped the residents of various ethnic communities to nurture a new kind of nationalism where the electorate set aside their differences and came
forward for a strong, safe and prosperous Bharat
The billion-plus nation witnessed a seven-phase polling exercise (11
April to 19 May) through electronic voting machines (EVM) supported by the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) mechanism, where over 700 million voters participated in the process, conducted by the powerful Election Commission of India, to send their representatives for the next five years to New Delhi.
With the ideology and background of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), PM Modi along with the saffron party chief Amit Shah promoted national pride and patriotism. With Islamist-sponsored terrorism continuing to grab the international media headlines and affecting India’s neighbouring countries, the mainstream Indians perhaps accepted the Hindu-centric nationalism for their safety and security.
PM Modi planned and managed to run the electoral campaigns with a Presidential style where the prime slogan was ‘Once Again Modi Government’ (not NDA or BJP government). Putting exclusive focus on one individual (Modi) contradicts the concept of India’s
parliamentary democracy. But the entire opposition lacked anyone to match Modi’s personality, oratory skill and leadership quality.
While the opposition leaders repeatedly termed Modi as a ‘thief and liar’, millions of voters, including a large section of young and educated seemingly realized various achievements of the Modi government, referring to clean India movement, corruption-free image,
digitalization of financial transactions, skill development initiatives, medical benefits, new bank accounts for poor families irrespective of their religion, caste or creed. The message from national elections was also loud & clear that the electorate would no longer patronise the dynastic politics. Not only the (Indira-Rajiv) Gandhi dynasty faced wrath from the voters, others belonging to the families of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Bhupinder Hooda, Ashok Gehlot etc also encountered massive rejections in the poll-battles.
Even in the restive Northeast, where separatist elements once ran parallel administrations, the lotus bloomed for the saffron party. The region with 25 parliamentary seats was swept by the BJP and its allies to elect 18 members to the NDA tally in the 17th Lok Sabha. More
importantly, voters of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim have opted for the BJP and NDA constituent Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) for their provincial governments in Itanagar and Gangtok.
In fact, BJP recorded the best ever performance in the region surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet (China), Myanmar and Bangladesh. Keeping alive the national trend, where many veteran Congress leaders lost the electoral battles, north-eastern voters also rejected many
influential Congress candidates. While the grand old party was losing its vote-shares, BJP nominees had won two Lok Sabha seats of Tripura and one seat in Manipur for the first time. Unlike many parts of West Bengal, where every phase of polling was marred with violence, the north-eastern region witnessed a very peaceful, participatory and smooth electoral process that might have helped the residents of various ethnic communities to nurture a new kind of nationalism where the electorate set aside their differences and came
forward for a strong, safe and prosperous Bharat.
Nava Thakuria is a political commentator
