Last couple of months were full of heated debates on channels, in closed groups and a political mess in the entire country. It was Narendra Modi vs the rest. Politicians were saying random stuff for each other; dumb or offensive statements were coming on a regular basis. Finally, the long election process ended and yesterday, we got the results. Those who were shouting #AyegaToModiHi ended their day eating Laddu-Cake and those who wanted to topple the government were seen finding a place to hide their heads. Question is, how a big and diverse country like India managed to show the same enthusiasm even after 5 years? Here are my 2 cents:
Why the result is shocking still kinda obvious:
When the election concluded in 2014, the results were surprising to many. There was speculation that NDA will eventually win the majority and will form a government, thanks to the very aggressive campaigning of BJP focusing on Narendra Modi. Additionally, all the ‘scam-gates’ that Congress-led UPA government opened during their tenure, drew a good amount of dirt; the lotus was set to bloom. What no one imagined was that the BJP itself was going to cross the golden line and Congress wouldn’t even score a half-century. The message was clear, people were ready for change. They were ready to give a chance to Narendra Modi.
There were many ups and downs during these last 5 years. Some decisions were good, some not so much. One thing which was completely missing was the list of scams as there were none. The big ministries were held by some meriting politicians. Work was done on the ground level. People who were accustomed to getting empty promises and special treatment only once in 5 years, saw something happening for their betterment. The way foreign policy with Pakistan was handled was not only courageous but commendable and effective. For a neutral person, there were 100 reasons more to vote for NDA than not to. So, this result may look extreme, but it was kind of inevitable. The correct word is not surprising but impressive.
Rahul Gandhi – The Star performer of BJP:
There are just two possibilities in his case: Either he is one of those innocent kids who are forced by their parents in the wrong profession and now struggle to survive due to lack of interest (aka most Engineers) or he is just plain dumb. He is still projected as a youth leader even when he is barely 4 years younger than my mother (For reference, I am just 1 year younger than BJP MP from Bangalore South LS seat). Congress should understand that not getting married or behaving like kids are not units to measure youth. He has done so many embarrassing, immature and dumb things on camera that if we compile them back to back, a full-length feature film can be made. Now, if you have this guy as your party chief and possible prime ministerial candidate, shit was bound to happen.
The only reason why this person has this position is plain nepotism. What these people don’t understand that we do not live under monarchy anymore and this guy is no Prince Charles. He never had a chance.
The Spineless Opposition:
Last time when General election result was announced, there was not a single party which was eligible to provide an official opposition leader. All they needed were 10% of the total seats (55) and they couldn’t even score that. Now ideally, for the next five years, they should have worked hard to come back in the game. In reality, all they did was to ride the anti-Narendra Modi ship. Every opposition party was sitting on this agenda only. Former foes merged into gigantic Mahagathbandhan. Congress left its weak seats uncontested for allies. For a neutral voter, this reason was not good enough. Even those who used to support non-NDA parties found it difficult to stick as there was no positive agenda but just hate. The last-minute manifesto with nothing new was not enough to fill the holes and the ship sunk. Guess what, we are not going to have an official opposition leader this time too.
Another major drawback for the opposition was unavailability of a good Prime-ministerial candidate. While Congress was stuck with Rahul Gandhi, Mahagathbandhan had too many faces who wanted the stamp of PM on them. God forbid, if this coalition would have won the election, we would have required a new election in no time because these people would have killed each other to get the top seat. This whole drama was too much for regular folks who just wanted a stable government which can provide them a good life.
#ModiAaRhaHai
Hate it or love it, people of India have shown their mandate. Narendra Damodardas Modi is here to stay another 5 years and so is BJP. We can hope that they will continue to provide progress and will solve the problems that were left neglected in the last tenure. This is how democracy works, the party that started with 2 seats just crushed the first and most powerful political party of India for the second time.
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