Today
was a day when BJP, the ruling national party, the chief group of the National
Democratic Alliance, got another feather in its cap - towards its aspirations
to become a true pan-India political party.
BJP,
more than comfortably, won Assam, and got a fantastic headway into the
North-East of the country - that has otherwise been the forte of Indian
National Congress and regional political parties like Naga People's Front,
Sikkim Democratic Front, Mizo National Front or CPI(M) in Tripura.
And
with it, the largest political party of the country, in terms of members, in
terms of MLAs (in the state legislative assemblies), and in terms of MPs (in
the parliament), effectively answered to the observations that it was trying to
get a backdoor entry in India's North-East by uprooting a democratically elected Congress
government in Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh has a different government
now - comprised of Congress rebels and supported by BJP.
But
the verdict has its own cautionary tales.
BJP's
vote share has come significantly in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The party, in
spite of putting intense efforts, saw its vote share down to 10% from 17% in
2014 Lok Sabha polls. Tamil Nadu was the same story where it came below 3% -
from almost 6% in 2014.
And
BJP's good show in Assam is going to have a flip-side.
The
anti-BJP faction is going to consolidate. When Nitish Kumar said the outcomes
were not unexpected given anti-BJP parties failed to stitch an alliance together
in Assam, like it was done in Bihar, it was a clear signal of the things to
come.
And
BJP should read it in the context of the fact that the party is going to lose
Uttar Pradesh and Punjab polls the next year. What is left to be seen is the
scale of BJP's loss.
So,
for BJP, it is time for some introspection based realpolitik.
To
continue..
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
