Successive victories often plunge the victor into indifference and arrogance. Conversely, fear of defeat humbles an individual,making him become down-to-earth and realize his mistakes.But, of what use would late repentance be?
In the last few years, everyone whether a supporter or opposer of the Modi-led government, has protested directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, against the everyday increasing rates of inflation and fuel prices. Even, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on several occasions drew the attention of the government to show how badly the common man was hit by the issues. Unfortunately, the government instead of addressing the issues turned a Nelson’s eye to the sufferings of the common man. But, the setback suffered by the ruling party in recent bye-elections to 29 Assembly and 3LokSabha Constituencies has brought the central government to its senses. Barely a day after the election results, the Union government slashed rates of petrol and diesel, and walking in its footsteps, Karnataka and almost all other states in the
federal setup have announced further reductions in exercise duty on fuel in their respective territories. This move would no doubt bring some relief to dissatisfied citizens. Reacting to the announcements, the Congress Party has derided the government and said that it is not the concern for the people but the election defeats of the ruling party that hascompelled it to cut fuel rates slightly. Besides fuel prices, the other factors that have contributed to the defeat of the BJP are the growing levels of inflation, unemployment in the country as well as the deteriorating law and order situations in the states ruled by it.
The party has suffered its worst defeats in Himachal Pradesh where it lost three Assembly constituencies and a Parliamentary seat to the Congress. Despite its shortcomings, the BJP along with its allies has managed to register a victory in 14 out of the 29 Assembly and 2 out of the 3 parliamentary constituencies.
The performance of the Congress Party in Assam was highly disappointing as the party failed to bag even a single seat out of the five. Though the party had fielded candidates having winning potentials and worked hard, the percentage of votes polled in its favour and for the ruling party which was 40 and 50 respectively,
made the difference. The BJP with its allies swept the Northeast states and the Congress was left emptyhanded. In Bihar, the scuffle between the Congress and the RJD parties in entering into an alliance for sharing seats enabled the ruling JD(U) to win both the seats in the bye-polls. Had the Congress and RJD agreed for one seat each, the JD(U) would have been stripped of victory in both the constituencies.
Ultimately, the results of the bye-elections have made it amply clear that the upcoming Assembly elections in 2022 in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Jharkhand are not going to be a cakewalk for the BJP. The humiliating defeat it has suffered in Himachal Pradesh denotes that the resentment of the
people at the party is rapidly rising upwards. Growing unemployment, rising inflation, falling GDP, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, high rates of fuel and LPG, and worsening law and orderhave remained the main issues in the recent bye-polls. Added to these, opposition to the three farm reform laws
against which farmers across the country have been protesting for over a year also had its play in deciding the electoral fates of the parties. If the state of affairs continues as it is today without any remedial changes being effected, then the issues that ruled the roost in the latest bye-polls will again dominate the
upcoming Assembly Elections in 2022, andof course with more intensity. Fighting elections against those issues might be extremely challenging for the BJP and the prevailing circumstances might facilitate the return of Congress to power. On the flip side, Congress and other parties need to realize that non
addressal of the said issues by the BJP-led government at the centre would not solely guarantee them victory in the upcoming elections. To garland BJP with defeat, it is imperative for Congress and other secular parties to get united on points of commonalities and face the elections.
The BJP may be drawing solace that a section of voters under the intoxication of the feelings of hatred against Muslims and other minorities, moral policing, etc. are overlooking the prevalent issues of unemployment, inflation, poverty, and so on. They are not able to notice the failures of the BJP government but are engaged in spreading disharmony through a variety of slogans and phrases such as Abbajan Abbajan, Love Jihad, Ghar Wapasi, and others. The BJP while assessing the real situation must not place reliance on this category of voters alone but must take into account the growing political awareness and the maturity levels of voters collectively and take steps to arrest the discontentment of voters by properly attending to the issues under discussion. It is the right time for the BJP government to take
seriously the mandate of people in the bye-elections and come up with effective policies to abate the sufferings of people under the impact of the said issues. Lest, the results of the upcoming elections in 2022 may not be to its full expectations and in the post-results, constraints may emerge calling for immediate addressing of the issues, in the same way as lowering of fuel prices following results of the recent bye-poll. Let Indians not wait for another occasion to welcome addressing of issues as ‘crying over spilt milk’ in the aftermath of another election results.
