2

Sep

Assembly elections as Finals

image

New Delhi, September 02, 2023

Pradeep Mathur 

With five states scheduled to go for assembly elections in less than three months from now and the union

territory of Jammu and Kashmir likely to join the race, the rest of the year 2023 can as well be described as

a decisive phase for the country’s political future. With strong rumours all around that the Lok Sabha

elections may be preponed the five assembly elections in the coming winters will be the final and not

semi-finals of the coming Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year to decide Prime Minister Narendra

Modi's bid for a third term.

Facing serious challenge to its rather fragile governments in important states like   Madhya Pradesh and

Haryana the BJP is busy in drawing its battle lines. The one-time all- pervading Congress is also

determined to not only save its position in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh but also to grab Madhya Pradesh

and possibly Telangana too.

Let us for a while forget about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and try to understand that Assembly elections

in coming winters are important for two major reasons -- one they will test the present strength of what has

come to be known as the Modi Magic and the alternative narrative that was  set in motion by the  Bharat

Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi and is now the election plank of the joint front of the Opposition known as

I.N.D.I.A.

The elections this winter are going to be very different from those which took place in 2019 and it's

aftermath. For one the Modi's BJP is no more the invincible looking horse of a Ashvamaed Yagya to

tame him would be  nearly impossible. Then the Opposition is now neither an underdog and nor a scared

lot. In fact the electoral battle this is going to be fought on a level playing field first time after nearly a

decade. With rather poor performance on economic front and instances of corruption and wrong doings

capped by the Adani scandal  , the BJP is now in no  position to flaunt  an holier-than- though attitude and

morally undermine the Opposition parties.

In the past one year and a half, the formidable BJP and it's all- conquering leader Narendra Modi have

found themselves  checkmated in several of their operations. Most important, the government had to

withdraw the three legislative acts relating to agriculture in face of stiff resistance from farmers. The

Operation Lotus failed at several places.  They could not unseat the Congress in Rajasthan . In Jharkhand

Hamant Surein survived despite CBI inquiries , ED raids and an unfair governor. In West Bengal Mamata

Didi foiled all attempts to discredit her government and retained her clout despite a hostile government. In

 Bihar politically astute Nitish Kumar not only foiled the BJP attempts to undercut his political profile but

turned the table on the Modi-Shah by pulling out of the BJP-dominated coalition government  and setting

up a parallel coalition which threatens to seriously undermine the BJP prospects in next year's Lok Sabha

elections. To top it all was the humiliating defeat in Karnataka and the Adani case.

In Maharashtra though Operation Lotus succeeded in removing Mahavikas Agadi government the BJP's

top leadership could not succeed in capturing the Shiv Sena it so much needed to champion its Hindutva

brand unchallenged. The reports are that though he has lost  legislators Udhav Thackeray's position

remains unchallenged and the Mahavikas Agadi has a definite upper hand in the forthcoming elections to

the Bombay Municipal Corporation,  the cash cow of Maharashtra politics.

Having sunk their differences and having come on one platform to challenge the might of ruling BJP  , the

Opposition leaders  need not be on the defensive as they have been in the recent years. It is now very

clear that government agencies like CBI and ED,   and the police by and large has been functioning to

target the Opposition leaders to promote  the political  interests of the ruling BJP rather than guarding the

common man. 

Whether Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra has been able to give a new lease of life to moribund Congress

party or the  prospects of  improvement in   electoral prospects because of waning Modi charisma , is

difficult to say but the Congress party has certainly come out of its hibernation and is in a mood to fight.  It

can also be said without contradiction that the Congress  has pulled BJP down from the high pedestal it has

been  occupying since 2014 and has given moral courage to the  leaders  of the Opposition parties to fight

the Modi rule without fear.Having lost clout in three big states of Bihar, Karnataka  and Maharashtra which

gave the  BJP 105 of its 303 seats in the elections to the present Lok Sabha,  the position of the Modi

government is not at all  formidable at the moment. Though the party won elections to the Gujarat Assembly

with an unprecedented margin it lost power in Himachal Pradesh, the home state of its President Nadda ,

Karnataka and  the Delhi Municipal corporation. In by-elections held with these elections, the BJP

performance was disappointing to say the least.

Whatever trumpeteers of Modi and his Hindutva brigade may say and whatever perception the mainline

media may try to create the fact is that the BJP will be fighting the winter elections to the five state

assemblies with backs to its wall.

  • Share:

About Us

We must explain to you how all seds this mistakens idea off denouncing pleasures and praising pain was born and I will give you a completed accounts..

Contact Us

Contact Info

  • 70, Gyan Khand- 4, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. Uttar Pradesh.
  • +91-9810533682
  • info@mediamap.co.in
  • Week Days: 09.00 to 18.00 Sunday: Closed