Daily Times

It is the principle of nature that the forces of repression and violence do not stay for long. It is universally known that the rise to power of the Bharatia Janata Party in 2019 in General Elections was not due to any radical programme of reforms for the up-lift of the common man, but it was due to its policy of integrating Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) which formed the corner stone of its policy. There had been growing resentment of people with the Party’s anti minorities policies and more particularly with its anti-Muslim agenda. Added to that BJP’s reign of terror in Kashmir Valley had lowered its democratic image at the international level. Recent Anti Citizenship laws were universally seen as discriminatory against the Muslims which brought much criticism against the Modi government, and even some of the BJP’s leaders showed their dislike against their Party’s anti-religious stance.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has suffered a major defeat in another key state election, after failing to win over voters in Delhi with a campaign that was one of its most polarising yet.

The anti-establishment Aam Aadmi party (AAP), which has governed the capital for the past five years, is on course to win 64 seats in the 70-seat assembly after running on an agenda centred on anti-corruption, healthcare and education, which have hugely improved during its time in power.

While the Delhi polls are always among the most closely contested elections in India, determining who will control India’s capital city of more than 20 million people, this year felt particularly heated due to the protests that have rocked Delhi and the rest of the country in response to Modi’s new citizenship law (CAA), which critics say is prejudicial against Muslims.

In this background, BJP suffered a crushing defeat in the recent state elections of Delhi where the Aam Aadmi Party under the leadership of its chief Arvind Kejriwal captured 62 out of 70 seats, just a year after the BJP won national elections. While Modi was re-elected with a huge majority in the May 2019 national elections, but at state level the BJP had not fared so well and, since December 2018, it has lost power in five states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Multiple AAP MPs celebrated the party’s predicted victory. This result of the election was attributed as ‘the victory of work over hatred.’

The BJP hasn’t been in power in New Delhi since 1998, when the Congress Party came to power. The Aam Aadmi Party has governed the state since a landslide victory in 2015, where it captured 62 out of 70 seats, just a year after the BJP won national elections. The main reason that the AAP managed to retain its past mandate was that it kept its focus on helping the state’s poor by refurbishing public schools and providing bus fares for women and electric and healthcare subsidies.

The importance of Delhi state elections is that it foreboded the un-popularity of Modi’s anti Muslim policies, and particularly its repressive policies in the Held Kashmir and its enforcement of Anti Citizenship Act to gradually reduce India’s Muslim minority

The BJP’s campaign had aggravated Hindu-Muslim relations and positioned the election as a referendum on nearly two months of protests over a controversial new law that excludes Muslims from a fast-track to citizenship. The party also hoped that Modi’s decision last summer to strip Muslim-majority Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status will gain Hindu votes, but the results of state assembly elections of Delhi must now open its eyes to its declining popularity, and rejection of its fascist policies. Losing support of the people of its capital Delhi has deep portents for the ruling party of P.M Modi. Particularly the hope of Modi to strip Muslim-majority Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status will gain Hindu votes, has proven false. If Modi’s party could secure a substantial number of seats in the state ellections it could further bolster the BJP’s pro-Hindu agenda, while defeat has given a severe blow to his policies. The Bharatiya Janata Party, with just three seats in the assembly, must necessarily get all the seats that the AAP would lose in a hypothetical scenario, in order to be able to form the next government in Delhi. It is a tall order for the BJP and the Congress to match the AAP’s 2015 performance level. Ironically, in the changed situation, the AAP itself is struggling to match its own previous performance. While the Congress’ decline and the AAP’s predicament are understandable, one would need to go back a little in history, to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) days, to understand the reasons for the BJP being in such a tight spot.

It is a matter of deep concern that the main opposition party Congress failed to even secure a single seat in the state elections.

More than 45,000 shakhas (branches) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had furthered the rise of a new wave of right-wing supporters for BJP which led to its victory in last years elections.

The importance of Delhi state elections is that it foreboded the un-popularity of Modi’s anti Muslim policies, and particularly its repressive policies in the Held Kashmir and its enforcement of Anti Citizenship Act to gradually reduce india’s Muslim minority. When the ruling party loses an election in its very capital, it conveys clear signs that all is not well within the state of India. These cracks though minor at present do in fact point out that Modi’s policies are being rejected by the people, and that its present defeat in the state elections of Delhi can be seen as the beginning of the fall of BJP’s rule in India.

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of Moments in Silence