Dr. Satwant Singh Rissam
The results of assembly polls are out and in some respects, these results are also a reflection of the democratic system in India and its deeper roots after 75 years. The voter is getting stronger as more people vote these days to bring the desired outcome with their strong belief in the democratic system. However, different policies pursued by different parties combined with political strategies brought dramatic results for BJP, Congress, AAP and others. It’s an indicator of democracy when we see different parties with different agendas perform differently in all states. It appears there is no pan-India formula to convince voters as all states and regions have their own problems and different perceptions towards getting solutions to those problems. We have seen how this time BJP sailed, Congress failed and AAP floated in this big political fight which was also called the ‘semifinal’ of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Again with BJP coming back to power in four states, BJP has emerged stronger in all these key states. Entire opposition couldn’t match the pace of BJP’s march towards getting such a mandate. This kind of victory in Uttar Pradesh shows that ‘COVID criticism’ faced by BJP didn’t impact the political plans of BJP. With CM Yogi returning to power, it will now further change the course of BJP politics and Yogi will emerge as another tallest leader in BJP after the backing of RSS. The bigger mandate in Uttarakhand is also a signal to growing BJP politics across the country. BJP’s better Goa performance says much about this party’s political strategy this election season. All plans have fallen in the right place as Manipur also stayed in BJP’s bag. Now the journey for BJP has become easy as they walk to face a big test again in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Some would agree that the results of 2022 have decided the results of 2024 for BJP.
In sharp contrast, the results have again left a big lesson for the Congress party. All leaders have failed to revive Congress fortunes. Big setback has come for Congress in three states and only by humbly accepting people’s mandate won’t help the party in near future also. After such a performance, Congress has not only lost polls but definitely the spirit of workers and leaders have also shattered across the country. The ‘high command’ culture in politics at times backfires because the ultimate decision is of the people and this got expressed with the situation Congress is right now in. This effectively means that the Congress party has failed to inspire the electorate in all the five states. After how many more defeats, accountability will be fixed in Congress? And when will new leadership come in front? Now Congress has been wiped off the UP map for almost three decades and continues to face defeats. The ‘party as family’ concept in Congress is being rejected by the voters and is a clear failure of Congress high command that isn’t ready to accept this sentiment till now.
Let’s look at AAP, founded in 2012, and it took them just 10 years to form a Government in 2 places, Delhi and now Punjab. Punjabis have spoken in Punjab and the most powerful politicians were shown the door by the voters. The voter has shown its maturity and once again worked on secular philosophy in the entire region. Punjab people appear aware as they voted above sectarian and caste lines. With this all combined, AAP has started a national journey and can have good prospects now onwards in Haryana as well as Jammu-Kashmir. Jammuites need to learn from this exceptional change in Punjab and vote only for honest governance in near future when assembly polls are held here. With the power of the people at play, democracy triumphs and it should continue to happen.
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