By Prabhjot Singh | Opinion |
Elections, they say, are the festival of a democracy. When the electors get a chance to exercise their franchise, they discharge a great responsibility of choosing their rulers. The choices of voters of different regions, ethnicities, religions or economic backgrounds may vary but the basic duty or responsibility remains the same. It is this choice of the electors that make a democracy a vibrant instrument of governance.
The country has just witnessed a series of elections, including those to some States and also to important civic bodies besides holding battles of ballots to fill in vacancies caused by various reasons, including death or resignation of incumbents.
Needless to reiterate, politics is a game of beautiful uncertainties. All political parties and their candidates want to win their elections. But here comes the rider. Only one candidate for a seat can win.
Interestingly, when the last battles of electoral supremacy of the year were completed this month, they ended on an unprecedented note. Three of major Indian political parties ended the year on a cheerful winning note — BJP for a record smashing win in Gujarat, Congress for coming back to power in Himachal Pradesh, and Aam Aadmi Party for taking away control of Delhi MCD from BJP. All this happened in the first week of the last month of the year. How these results will impact the 2024 general elections in the country only time will tell.
In Himachal Pradesh where Congress was voted back to power, Sukhwinder Singh aka Sukhu was sworn in as 15th Chief Minister of the State. His election was a snub to dynastic politics as claims of the widow of the long-time Chief Minister of the hilly state, Pratibha Singh, a sitting MP, and her son, Vikrmaditya Singh, were overlooked and choice fell on the son of a driver and fifth time MLA from Nadaun.
Incidentally, the new Chief Minister and his Deputy, journalist-turned politician Mukesh Agnihotri, come from Hamirpur, an area that had earlier sent Prem Kumar Dhumal, as BJP chief minister of the State.
In Gujarat, the newly elected BJP Legislature Party reposed its faith in the incumbent Bhupendra Patel as the Chief Minister of the State.
Interestingly, the results in the just concluded elections with minor aberrations, were on the expected lines. They, besides those of some byelections, including that of Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, have thrown open various debates, including one on the future of Indian politics.
In Uttar Pradesh, BJP wrested Rampur seat from the Samajwadi Party. The Samajwadi Party, however, had the consolation of retaining the Mainpuri Lo Sabha seat that had fallen vacant because of the death of SP veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav. The seat went to Dimple Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Change is the only thing that is permanent and battles for electoral supremacy too are changing. The obvious inference of the just concluded battles of ballot is that holding of big election rallies and traditional campaigning styles no longer win the elections. Instead, only those who have a message, messengers and machinery to spread that message have more chances to succeed than those following traditional or conventional methods.
One interesting feature of these elections came from Himachal Pradesh where women are said to have played a significant role in ousting the BJP government of Jai Ram Thakur. They once again outnumbered men in voting. But still, they elected only one woman legislator in a house of 68. Himachal Pradesh is also one of few states that is still waiting to have a woman Chief Minister. There was a chance for Pratibha Singh this time but the growing opposition to dynastic politics came her way. The only earlier claimant had been Vidya Stokes but she, too, could not make it to the top post though she served as Speaker of HP Vidhan Sabha.
Another historic outcome of these elections had been the landslide win for BJP in Gujarat where it won a record number of 156 seats in a House of 182, improving upon the previous best of 149 by any party. This win has its own significance as the world was watching this election that was being viewed as a chance for the country’s oldest party, Congress, to stage a comeback. But it was not to be. Instead, the results saw the virtual decimation of Congress in the State as it was reduced to its lowest strength of only 17 MLAs.
The beauty of democracy was witnessed elsewhere. The same BJP had its share of grief as it lost power both in Himachal Pradesh to Congress and control of the Delhi MCD to Aam Aadmi Party.
Apparently, the message given by electors of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh is clear i.e. BJP was beatable.
Also another major outcome of these elections has been elevation of Aam Aadmi Party as a national party. It is the youngest party to reach that level in the 10th year of its launch. This happened in spite of its scoring a big zero in Himachal Pradesh and failing to reach double figure mark in Gujarat. It, however, had the consolation of winning 13 per cent vote share in the BJP stronghold Gujarat.
Though AAP had put everything into its effective and extended campaign, including the might of two governments – Delhi and Punjab – in Gujarat, it did succeed in making a dent but only in Congress votes. Congress lost about 15 percent of its vote share compared to the last elections in 2017. And 13 percent of these votes went to AAP. BJP instead, improved its share by four per cent and returned its best ever tally of winning 156 seats.
In Gujarat, the real loser was undoubtedly Congress as it suffered its worst ever debacle in the State politics that had till this election remained a two-party affair. Incidentally, BJP had set a new record of continuing its political hold beyond 27 years.
AAP’s entry, going by seats (five) it won in Gujarat and drawing a blank in Himachal Pradesh, has turned out to be a damp squib. It failed to break the revolving door verdict between BJP and Congress in the two States. Congress has taken its turn to rule Himachal Pradesh for next five years by winning 40 of 68 in the State Assembly by putting the ruling BJP to the Opposition benches with 25 seats. Independents grabbed the remaining three seats in the hilly State.
AAP, however, is claiming credit for breaching the BJP fort in Gujarat. On the other hand, the mood in the BJP camp, after all the results, including those of byelections, is upbeat as its leaders are going overboard in praising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for record smashing success in Gujarat. They maintain Brand Modi has become stronger than ever. True, they have a reason to say so as Modi and his trusted lieutenant, Amit Shah, campaigned hard in their home State. It is a different matter that JP Nadda, who heads the BJP, lost his home State to Congress, primarily because of anti-incumbency and the policies and programmes of the outgoing Chief Minister Jairam Thakur.
The results have also given a message clear and loud, Indian voters cannot be taken for granted.
Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows. For more in-depth analysis please visit probingeye.com or follow him on Twitter.com/probingeye
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