D.K.Pandita
The General Elections of 2024 will be remembered for a long time in India’s history. The unbearable heat of early summers and the ‘Samudra-Manthan’ (churning) of the Indian political establishment would be tales to tell our future generations. In hindsight, it was not an easy election. Neither the underdog nor the champion felt at ease. The ubiquitous uprising against the EVM system before the elections and the conspicuous silence after the verdict would do a lot to silence its critics. As the Chief Election Commissioner remarked “Parinaam hi Pramaan Hai” (the result is the proof). The result of 2024 has at once dismantled the Exit Poll/Opinion Poll/Analyst industry. It is not easy to conduct free, fair and impartial elections when contestation is a greater virtue than co-operation. The Election Commission of India has added a feather in its cap after implementing the largest democratic exercise in history continuously for the 18th time in 75 years. The exercise, at least this time has been glitch-free and transparent.
After the declaration of the results on 04 June and with the resignation of PM Modi on 06 June 2024, the 17th Lok Sabha came to an end. The formation of a new Government with the National Democratic Alliance, arguably the most formidable political alliance in India’s history, with 293 members already having staked a claim to form the Government and having unanimously elected Narendra Modi as their leader. It is the first time since 1962 that a ruling dispensation is returning to power for the third time. The PM Modi-led Government navigated incredibly tough terrain viz. the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic slumps during its second term. The era of Coalition Governments which temporarily concluded in 2014, has reemerged from the shadows. It will see an increase in the participation of regional units and the usually competing parties negotiating to work together. To what extent liberal reforms and reservations will move forward would be a function of the alliance’s comfort. The essential compulsion would be to check the political breakdown.
The verdict of the people cannot be clearer than this, it wants the BJP to be more conciliatory and less confrontational towards the political aspirations of various communities and regions of India. The verdict also shows the limits of communal polarization as a mobilization strategy, which turned out to be the mainstay of the BJP’s campaign. The outcome holds the BJP accountable, and demands it be more constructive. The BJP suffered a massive setback in its traditional bastion of the ‘Hindi Heartland’ states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It lost close to 40 seats in these 3 states alone, a figure that could have decisively altered its own majority in the Parliament. Losses in both Ayodhya and Prayagraj must teach a lesson to the BJP. It is not God’s Governance but Good Governance that would let them survive in a hotly contested electorate. God’s Governance is not a means to an end but it is itself an ideal end to be replicated on a human level. It may enthuse people but may not be enough for people to forget their woes.
Although during the decade old rule of BJP led NDA it has enacted several priorities of the RSS, including criminalizing the practice of triple talaq, and revoking Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which granted autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, and abrogating its statehood. Above all building of the ‘bhavya’ Ram Mandir temple and its inauguration on 22 January 2024 after a ‘prana pratishtha’ (consecration) ceremony were the core issues to be addressed. Now the shift is more rational and developmental viz. PM Vishwakarma, a Central Sector Scheme, launched on 17th September, 2023 by the Prime Minister to provide end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople who work with their hands and tools; PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana a Government scheme that aims to provide free electricity to households in India, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15, 2024. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: Caring for the Girl Child, leveraging the power of JAM: Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile, a new approach to development: Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, unleashing India’s entrepreneurial energy, Namami Gange and above all powering India’s growth and putting the Indian Economy on a Fast-Track.
The Government must come to terms with the pulse of the nation. It is essential that some features introduced by Congress in its 2024 ‘Nyay Patra’ should be considered genuinely and incorporated like filling the nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the central Government, review of the Agnipath Scheme and a sustained control on price rise and development of rural infrastructure. Mahatma Gandhi emphasized “Suraj” which essentially meant good governance. It is time that this goal be fully realized.
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