No Stopping BJP And AAP Is The New Star
The India Commentary view
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-03-11 02:52:26
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The India Commentary view
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The results of the elections in five states show that while there is little or no change in BJP's popularity from states as diverse as Manipur and UP, the Congress is going further downhill. They also showed that AAP has now become a force to reckon with in national politics in the manner it won Punjab.
That the BJP bucked anti-incumbency, loss of several prominent OBC leaders, Jat and farmer anger, criticism over the mishandling of the Covid situation during the second wave, joblessness, economic distress and a huge push by the Samajwadi Party to actually increase its vote share (although the seats went down substantially) in Uttar Pradesh was creditable. It showed that increasingly, caste and minority mobilization is not enough to win elections. In the face of Modi-Yogi magic, Akhilesh Yadav must be left wondering what else he needed to have done in order to beat the BJP.
In Punjab, the broom swept aside everything. With an astonishing 92 seats, AAP has got a resounding mandate for change. The five-cornered contests in the state this time were expected to divide votes and the outcomes could not be predicted. In the end, all they did was to consolidate the votes in AAP's favour with a vengeance. The scale of AAP's victory is truly remarkable and it now needs to work to repay the faith reposed by the people of the state.
BJP also managed to come back to power in Uttarakhand and Manipur with a clear majority. In Goa, it is just one short of majority and is expected to form the government. In all three states, it won despite a clear anti-incumbency wave and that was mainly because its principal opposition, the Congress, could not get its act right.
The Congress proved once again that it is its own worst enemy. It was expected to give a tough fight to the BJP in Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand. But it flattered to deceive. In all three states, its seats and vote share went down substantially, showing that it is increasingly becoming irrelevant. If things continue in this fashion, the opposition space will be scooped by parties like AAP and the Congress will become history.
