A Jat consolidation appears to have benefitted Dushyant Chautala's JJP, a breakaway of INLD, as the party is leading in a number of seats in the Jat belt.
In 2014, Khattar was a surprise pick as Haryana CM but in the five years since, he has risen to become the face of the party's poll campaign in the state.
As campaigning for Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls came to a close Saturday, PM Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on opposition over Article 370, Kartarpur corridor & other issues.
With Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim behind the bars for rape and murder, the place bears a deserted look with politicians visiting it maintaining low profile.
Two questions are pertinent: Why does the Trump administration keep making the same mistakes on the peace proposal? And what does a hurried peace plan mean on the ground?
While global corporations setting up GCCs in India continue to express confidence in availability of skilled AI engineers, the panel argued that India’s real challenge lies elsewhere.
Without a Congress revival, there can be no challenge to the BJP pan-nationally. Modi’s party is growing, and almost entirely at the cost of the Congress.
HAD NOT THE CONGRESS PARTY FELT DEFEATED EVEN BEFORE ELECTIONS AND INSTEAD GIRDED THEIR LOINS FOR A BITTER FIGHT THEY COULD WIN BOTH STATES . RAHUL GANDHI IS TO BE BLAMED FOR NOT ONLY THROWING IN THE TOWEL , BUT ALSO FOR PETULANT BEHAVIOUR ON LOSING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS . THERE ARE GRACEFUL WAYS EITHER TO QUIT A POST OR CONTINUE DESPITE ADVERSITIES
In the interest of the Nation and Opposition Sonia and Rahul must quit Congress and should not take any part in Politics. This is for the betterment of the Party as both these two are cluless.
The author in his enthusiasm has missed an important point ‘voter turnout’ in both states it is reduced and the BJP were not able to mobilise its voters as they grew complacent,it does not in anyway mean that the people trusts the congress and other parties,BJP may not have got outright victory that it expected but the opposition did not win either and it shows that the people donot trust them the Congress party is a den of corruption and it has not changed,so gone are the days that people elected thieves in the name of secularism aka sickularism ,and the Congress is the oldest player of caste politics its destruction is required for good of the nation
What you are saying is like I have fallen flat in the face but the dust did not touch my moustache. Real Bhakt you are and you think there is not corruption. How theypersuaded Congress/JDS MLAs to defect without corrupt practices. What about JPP how much money would have changed hands can you imagine and you talk of corruption in the Congress.
It is almost embarassing to sew this kind of logic.
In Maharashtra, BJP has roughly the same number of votes despite contesting on about half the seats.
Not much different in haryana.
So who are these people in your delusions punishing the BJP?
There is this pesky fact of the number of seats won.
Yes, but the author’s point is about people (not seats) punishing the BJP. Seats have other factors at play. And in fact that tally too is not much different.
It is laughable to see Cong, Shiv Sena and NCP celebrate. Just shows how much lower their bar has become.
In elections seats==people’s votes. About the tally: remember that the BJP aimed for 75 seats in Haryana. And how many did the get?
Where Congress celebrated it is your figment of imagination.
With economy doing poorly , BJP should have lost both the states by a huge margin ,the victories hence are credit worthy of good PR work and reflects poorly on Congress and the opposition.
The Economy is still doing better than it did in 2014 by all measures – besides the voter also understands that the global economy is in a downturn with all nations suffering economic stress – this is why Communists have done well in Kerala and Congress done well in Rajasthan despite no visible economic performance from them vis-a-vis BJP states.
It is just uncharitable to not give credit where it is due – to the CM of Maharashtra – Fadnavis and to a lesser extent CM of Haryana – Khattar who have had a very hard time navigating various local issues while implementing large scale reforms across the board. The return to power is not without a rise in incumbency but the mandate is clearly for a second term to the local Govts to continue albeit with more scrutiny – which is also good.
So, BJP which contested In 150 seats, won 103 this time . In 2014, it contested in 260 seats and won 122. That too with almost same no. Of votes.
Shivam, draws his own frustrated conclusion that arrogance has been vanquished. Not withstanding tht BJP alone won almost 2 times the seats of anyone else, more than comb total of ncp+inc.
I think he was exp a compl rout of opp, which fortunately didn’t happen and projects this jailbreak as moral vict for them & the new buzz in town “moral defeat” for BJP. At least do a proper analysis and draw appr concl,
This occasional shock in elections is good for BJP. Indian voters cannot be taken for granted. In central elections, they consider different things but in local elections, their daily needs are a priority.
Haryana true to the extent but Maharashtra elections results are not as bad as it is made out to be. BJP won 105 out of 144 seats. in 2014 they won 122 out of 280 plus seats contested. BJP strike rate is 70 percent.
its SS whose strike rate is below 50 percent.. and its interesting to see how many SS seats won are from the BJP kitty of 2014.. Also BJP rebels won many seats who lost out to SS cos of seat sharing.
SS has fared badly this election. 220 predictions makes the result looks underwhelming which was ridiculous to start with. But alliance missed 180 , cos of SS under performance.
According to Mr. Vij the BJP must win elections across India by a two-third majority. Anything less than that is actually a loss for the BJP and reflects the disenchantment of the common man at its “arrogance”. While the theory is hilarious, it sure will be acceptable to the BJP and its allies.
As long as the NDA controls the corridors of power, it will be content, in fact happy, to concede to the likes of Mr. Vij the idiotic “masses are disappointed/angry” narrative.
Is there no arrogance in BJP? What have they done to expect credit. Khattar lost the Election. Why can you reflect? Abhishek Bakshi what is your definition of arrogance?
BJP is not invincible: RIGHT
EVMs are not rigged: NOT CLEAR – may be BJP did not bother to rig too many this time thinking it will win any way! notice how most opposition wins lately have been the unexpected ones. when polls predicted close runs, BJP won; when BJP was supposed to win easily, opposition won!
the public is not drunk on Hindutva bigotry: THANK GOD!
the opposition is letting down its voters with a leadership vacuum: YES. WHO WILL STEP UP TO FILL IT?
(by the way, trolls, my psudo is the name of a fish in latin – no need to try and guess my religion/caste/gender from it)
Well said! Rohu fish should be making this troll less frustrated.
The political thugs and their cronies (including paid unpaid trolls) often forget that what matters in a democracy is the voter. Not money, not power and not crookedness. They have limited life. Personally, my faith our great country is restored today – somewhat! My ordinary countrymen and women are above bigotry. Thank God.
Agreed. This is just the beginning tof putting BJP in its place. They were beginning to sound like God’s chosen people, rather than a party elected by people. See how they’ve treated Chidambram.
Still, as Manoj also has noted, given the state of the economy, the BJP should’ve been routed.
LOL – God’s chosen people are those Gandhi family clowns who go around giving speeches and say they are “ready to be PM” as if that was all that it takes . Who is putting them in their place? Chidambram was treated exactly as he deserves – the crook and his nitwit son have swindled India for far too long without any consequences.
Liberals clearly frustrated and consoling themselves with “lesser defeats” – never mind that no “liberal” actually won power – rather it was Caste politics in Haryana and Sharad Pawar in Maharastra who did better than before.
Hello Mazo. Seeing you after a long time.
Where have you been hiding? Still going on and on about liberals, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi etc.? C’mon. Show some originality.
Time for the BJP trolls to wake up and smell the coffee. This is the beginning of the end.
I think it is beyond your comprehension what constitutes a fair trial. Chidambram may or may not be crooked. That is not for you to decide. But it is clear (if you have a bit of intelligence) that he has become a political football with the courts being willing participants in the government’s games. Even after more than 60 days of jail and questioning they have not found anything, otherwise they wouldn’t keep on rearresting him.
Even a murderer deserve a fair trial. At least in countries that are not banana republics – something what the BJP has turned India into.
The wheel always goes the full circle and the BJP leaders also will be caught under it. Only it is matter of time. Nothing is permanent and BJP rule will also pass. Be balanced don’t get carried away be humble and avoid the swagger of 1 and 2.
Well said, Rajiv. Our army of trolls will always find faults with every thing a right thinking individuals have to say. You must have noticed that the Supreme Leader talked about how returning to power after 5 years of ruling (read ruining) the country was a great achievement. And the same man abuses Congress for ruining the country during its 50 years of rule. How is that possible, if coming back power is the unique achievement of the Supreme Leader? I have always been amused by the way the SL and the paid unpaid trolls twist every argument and every achievement of their own. They forget that there is God, though they pretend to be believers and then there is voter in a democracy. They are making all the effort to kill the democracy though.
Your last sentence is most important, Indian. Individually we can be BJP or Congress supporters. It doesn’t matter as long as all of us are supporters of democracy. This is where the SL fails, and fails badly. He’s out to destroy all opposition.
They pay lip sympathy to God. Money is everything to them and their ilk. The ilk have forgotten the Mahatma.
True, Rajiv. The SL is out to destroy the country itself, is my assessment. All the policies are for the super-rich businessmen and women. DeMon was unleashed pretending to solve the problem of corruption and it started the new line of business for people on the right side of politics. The Man who pretends to be God fighting corruption and talks about sabka vikas issues electoral bonds and his party gets nearly all of them. How does that for fighting corruption? Narratives that blind bhakts sell us that SL is God’s reincarnation. It is an insult to all our God. Is it not?
Couldn’t agree with you more.
This hypocrisy is peculiarly Indian (or Hindu): Modi is of course pure as the morning dew. That is because he has outsourced all the dirty work to others.
As Sarojini Naidu once said for Mahatma Gandhi: it costs a lot of money to keep this man in poverty.
Let’s not even start talking about electoral bonds. What about Jio? If the relationship with the Ambani is not crony capitalism, then what is? (There’s only one Ambani that counts. So I use the article The for him.)
Agree, Rajiv. Cronyism is the dominant approach to policy making. I met someone recently who mentioned that the headline about policy choices tell him the people that are calling shots. And the individual has not lived in India for very long. That was a telling insight for me!
“the public is not drunk on Hindutva bigotry: THANK GOD!”
Typical witless liberal self-congratulation!
The public has voted for LOCAL Assembly elections and is concerned about LOCAL issues and Local Development. In this regard, there are no “hindutva” issues in either Maharashtra or Haryana to deal with! Also, with the BJP+SS gaining a much larger vote share than before, it is clear that their base has grown – compared to earlier when they captured more of the swing vote. Plus, it has to be noted that AIMIM didn’t even win a SINGLE seat this time – was that also because the public was not drunk on Hindutva ?
Hindu consolidation is a political reality – liberals who try to navel gaze to claim that Hindutva does not matter are only deluding themselves as neither Sharad Pawar, nor the Congress in Haryana can afford to ignore that or stray outside the lines. Liberals seem to confuse the BJP with Hindutva – which is not the case.
Yet another one with problems of logic. How many are there?
BJP and Hindutva are not connected? Which world do you live in?
Who is against Hindu political consolidation? The last I heard was that India has always been a Hindu nation since 1947.
Hindutva people are fake Hindus. This is what broad-minded Hindus are fighting against.
You seem to be seriously frustrated. Cheer up, a strong opposition is a Diwali gift to liberal pseuds and mainstream commentators.
Hey Ram (or Ramu)!
“Liberals seem to confuse the BJP with Hindutva” , errr…. you mean “Liberals seem to rightly equate the BJP with Hindutva”?
Mazo, either you are deluded past helping or you are a paid troll, in which case you are not to blame since you are only doing your job. but your engish skills being better than the average bjp-it-cell, i guess that it is the first case. is that right?
What ever you have to say the fact remains they were brought down to earth with a jolt from their high perch.
Was BJP arrogant with power? Yes, definitely. Or else, they were pretending to be invincible when in their heart they knew of many insurmountable challenges they faced. Obviously, issues like 370 had no relevance, whatsoever. There were many other state-level relevant issues. First was the inevitable anti-incumbency after completion of one term. Add to it economic slowdown mainly due to factors external to the state; but the state suffered the most being the most industrialised. No wonder, consequent job losses hurt BJP’s prospects. Natural calamities – drought and thereafter devastating floods. Growing agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide. Then issues like Tree-cutting and PMC Bank fraud created lot of confusion and dislike for the state government . Implementation of the debt waiver scheme was not up to the mark. BJP knew that this election was not an easy task. Moreover, they had to comply with seat sharing arrangement with Shiv Sena, which gave way to many rebel candidates hurting the Party’ prospect. I am reminded of the Gujarat Assembly elections where the BJP just scraped through. A similar situation was prevailing in Maharashtra. It is no mean achievement that the Alliance has returned to power – a first for any non-Congress government. Notwithstanding this, BJP is crestfallen, as they had set the bar unduly high. A target of 220 out of 288 was laughable. Ardent supporters of BJP , Modi-Bhakts and gangs of WhatsApp social media groups believed that BJP would do the miracle – they were ridiculously naïve. Good that the opposition will be strong this time. Good for democracy and good for governance. Maharashtra has chosen wisely.
So you are saying 162 vs 98 in a NDA vs Opp is a strong victory for the opposition akin to Gujarat elections ?
I agree that there was some element of trying to keep the BJP in check – this was mostly due to the BJP going aggressively after Sharad Pawar and this was seen as bullying by the BJP. Also, the maratha movement and PMC scam hurt the Govt. Also, the shortcoming in land compensation for Bullet train project hurt the BJP in Western Maharastra.. What didn’t play a part at all was the Aarey dairy tree cutting – which NOBODY in Mumbai gave 2 paisa about except some left-wing extremists.
But overall the sentiment in the state was definitely pro-BJP. Also, let us make no doubt about it – the people of Maharastra didn’t vote for or against Modi – they focused on local issues and local problems – to say that this vote reflects a sentiment against modi-shah is deeply misleading.
When the target was set at ‘minimum220’ and you get just 160- a shortfall of 60 seats, is it success? Same thing happened in Gujarat. Barely a hundred against target of 150! Now see the composition of 160- BJP has just got 105 , which means that it is far away from the absolute majority requirement of 145 seats. Independents cannot help them to attain majority on their own. BJP is now depending on the Sena. The balance has tilted in Sena’s favour. If Congress, NCP and Sena come together they can easily form the government, with an offer to the Sena of CM post. The Congress has now openly made the offer. Furthermore, all is not well within the alliance. The Sena chief had openly declared that it was rotting in the alliance. Day after day, it was carrying out tirade against the BJP in Samana. I don’t think it is a possibility. But the Sena now had an upper hand and will stop playing second fiddle. They are bound to take revenge of five years of humiliation and neglect within the alliance. They will demand Dy CM post and important ministries like Home and Revenue. Fadnavis has been cut to size.
Who will not vote for God of Gods Modi!!!!!!. Secondly are there no right wing extremists in your reckoning?
Just when one had given up on the Indian voter! Finally, the tide may be turning. Will 2024 be 1977 again?
LOL I thought 2019 was supposed to be 1977 again – what happened ?? If you have given up on the voter then clearly you are no democrat – just a fanatical leftist.
Democrats win because they believe in the people – ideological zealots lose because they believe their ideology is more important than what the people want.
Wow. How much of energy do you have to hate the leftists. Please, please show some originality. Then maybe people like you can really contribute to the growth of a healthy BJP, which India needs.
Wow. You put it so neatly. Two thumbs up!.
Is there any democracy in JK now.
Where is Anonymous? In hospital with a heart attack?
RR is taking a basket of seasonal fruit to cheer him up. Given the time on the clock, he might prefer something stronger.
A shock?
:). Anonymous will come to his senses soon and become normal.
Ha, ha, you are justifying your existence on this website, and your half-baked comments with a bitter-sweet reference to me. Thanks for remembering though. Would have used emoji but but not typing this on my phone while walking. Cheers!!
Missing me already.. So sweet!
Guess this is called a win win situation. Ruling party and supporters happy because they are back in power, opposition and supporters also happy because performance better then expected.
The BJP is bad for Indian democracy. Period. The same way Indira Gandhi was between 1975-77. And she was rightly thrown out.
Everything does not need to be seem through the filter of party support. If you love Indian democracy and institutions, you MUST oppose the BJP. The same way so many people opposed Indira Gandhi.
No only she practised Dictatorship what we see in Kashmir is not Emergency or Autocracy. according to BJP.
!! Asatyam Shivam Sadaa Sandesham !!
Shivam We…zzzzzz in a nutshell:
21/10/2019: Flip
23/10/2019: Flop
24/10/2019: Flip
………………..
₹₹₹₹₹₹₹
………………..
HAD NOT THE CONGRESS PARTY FELT DEFEATED EVEN BEFORE ELECTIONS AND INSTEAD GIRDED THEIR LOINS FOR A BITTER FIGHT THEY COULD WIN BOTH STATES . RAHUL GANDHI IS TO BE BLAMED FOR NOT ONLY THROWING IN THE TOWEL , BUT ALSO FOR PETULANT BEHAVIOUR ON LOSING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS . THERE ARE GRACEFUL WAYS EITHER TO QUIT A POST OR CONTINUE DESPITE ADVERSITIES
In the interest of the Nation and Opposition Sonia and Rahul must quit Congress and should not take any part in Politics. This is for the betterment of the Party as both these two are cluless.
The author in his enthusiasm has missed an important point ‘voter turnout’ in both states it is reduced and the BJP were not able to mobilise its voters as they grew complacent,it does not in anyway mean that the people trusts the congress and other parties,BJP may not have got outright victory that it expected but the opposition did not win either and it shows that the people donot trust them the Congress party is a den of corruption and it has not changed,so gone are the days that people elected thieves in the name of secularism aka sickularism ,and the Congress is the oldest player of caste politics its destruction is required for good of the nation
What you are saying is like I have fallen flat in the face but the dust did not touch my moustache. Real Bhakt you are and you think there is not corruption. How theypersuaded Congress/JDS MLAs to defect without corrupt practices. What about JPP how much money would have changed hands can you imagine and you talk of corruption in the Congress.
It is almost embarassing to sew this kind of logic.
In Maharashtra, BJP has roughly the same number of votes despite contesting on about half the seats.
Not much different in haryana.
So who are these people in your delusions punishing the BJP?
There is this pesky fact of the number of seats won.
Yes, but the author’s point is about people (not seats) punishing the BJP. Seats have other factors at play. And in fact that tally too is not much different.
It is laughable to see Cong, Shiv Sena and NCP celebrate. Just shows how much lower their bar has become.
In elections seats==people’s votes. About the tally: remember that the BJP aimed for 75 seats in Haryana. And how many did the get?
Where Congress celebrated it is your figment of imagination.
With economy doing poorly , BJP should have lost both the states by a huge margin ,the victories hence are credit worthy of good PR work and reflects poorly on Congress and the opposition.
The Economy is still doing better than it did in 2014 by all measures – besides the voter also understands that the global economy is in a downturn with all nations suffering economic stress – this is why Communists have done well in Kerala and Congress done well in Rajasthan despite no visible economic performance from them vis-a-vis BJP states.
It is just uncharitable to not give credit where it is due – to the CM of Maharashtra – Fadnavis and to a lesser extent CM of Haryana – Khattar who have had a very hard time navigating various local issues while implementing large scale reforms across the board. The return to power is not without a rise in incumbency but the mandate is clearly for a second term to the local Govts to continue albeit with more scrutiny – which is also good.
So, BJP which contested In 150 seats, won 103 this time . In 2014, it contested in 260 seats and won 122. That too with almost same no. Of votes.
Shivam, draws his own frustrated conclusion that arrogance has been vanquished. Not withstanding tht BJP alone won almost 2 times the seats of anyone else, more than comb total of ncp+inc.
I think he was exp a compl rout of opp, which fortunately didn’t happen and projects this jailbreak as moral vict for them & the new buzz in town “moral defeat” for BJP. At least do a proper analysis and draw appr concl,
Is there no arrogance in BJP?
This occasional shock in elections is good for BJP. Indian voters cannot be taken for granted. In central elections, they consider different things but in local elections, their daily needs are a priority.
Haryana true to the extent but Maharashtra elections results are not as bad as it is made out to be. BJP won 105 out of 144 seats. in 2014 they won 122 out of 280 plus seats contested. BJP strike rate is 70 percent.
its SS whose strike rate is below 50 percent.. and its interesting to see how many SS seats won are from the BJP kitty of 2014.. Also BJP rebels won many seats who lost out to SS cos of seat sharing.
SS has fared badly this election. 220 predictions makes the result looks underwhelming which was ridiculous to start with. But alliance missed 180 , cos of SS under performance.
According to Mr. Vij the BJP must win elections across India by a two-third majority. Anything less than that is actually a loss for the BJP and reflects the disenchantment of the common man at its “arrogance”. While the theory is hilarious, it sure will be acceptable to the BJP and its allies.
As long as the NDA controls the corridors of power, it will be content, in fact happy, to concede to the likes of Mr. Vij the idiotic “masses are disappointed/angry” narrative.
Is there no arrogance in BJP? What have they done to expect credit. Khattar lost the Election. Why can you reflect? Abhishek Bakshi what is your definition of arrogance?
BJP is not invincible: RIGHT
EVMs are not rigged: NOT CLEAR – may be BJP did not bother to rig too many this time thinking it will win any way! notice how most opposition wins lately have been the unexpected ones. when polls predicted close runs, BJP won; when BJP was supposed to win easily, opposition won!
the public is not drunk on Hindutva bigotry: THANK GOD!
the opposition is letting down its voters with a leadership vacuum: YES. WHO WILL STEP UP TO FILL IT?
(by the way, trolls, my psudo is the name of a fish in latin – no need to try and guess my religion/caste/gender from it)
No wonder you sound fishy!
Well said! Rohu fish should be making this troll less frustrated.
The political thugs and their cronies (including paid unpaid trolls) often forget that what matters in a democracy is the voter. Not money, not power and not crookedness. They have limited life. Personally, my faith our great country is restored today – somewhat! My ordinary countrymen and women are above bigotry. Thank God.
Agreed. This is just the beginning tof putting BJP in its place. They were beginning to sound like God’s chosen people, rather than a party elected by people. See how they’ve treated Chidambram.
Still, as Manoj also has noted, given the state of the economy, the BJP should’ve been routed.
LOL – God’s chosen people are those Gandhi family clowns who go around giving speeches and say they are “ready to be PM” as if that was all that it takes . Who is putting them in their place? Chidambram was treated exactly as he deserves – the crook and his nitwit son have swindled India for far too long without any consequences.
Liberals clearly frustrated and consoling themselves with “lesser defeats” – never mind that no “liberal” actually won power – rather it was Caste politics in Haryana and Sharad Pawar in Maharastra who did better than before.
Hello Mazo. Seeing you after a long time.
Where have you been hiding? Still going on and on about liberals, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi etc.? C’mon. Show some originality.
Time for the BJP trolls to wake up and smell the coffee. This is the beginning of the end.
I think it is beyond your comprehension what constitutes a fair trial. Chidambram may or may not be crooked. That is not for you to decide. But it is clear (if you have a bit of intelligence) that he has become a political football with the courts being willing participants in the government’s games. Even after more than 60 days of jail and questioning they have not found anything, otherwise they wouldn’t keep on rearresting him.
Even a murderer deserve a fair trial. At least in countries that are not banana republics – something what the BJP has turned India into.
The wheel always goes the full circle and the BJP leaders also will be caught under it. Only it is matter of time. Nothing is permanent and BJP rule will also pass. Be balanced don’t get carried away be humble and avoid the swagger of 1 and 2.
Well said, Rajiv. Our army of trolls will always find faults with every thing a right thinking individuals have to say. You must have noticed that the Supreme Leader talked about how returning to power after 5 years of ruling (read ruining) the country was a great achievement. And the same man abuses Congress for ruining the country during its 50 years of rule. How is that possible, if coming back power is the unique achievement of the Supreme Leader? I have always been amused by the way the SL and the paid unpaid trolls twist every argument and every achievement of their own. They forget that there is God, though they pretend to be believers and then there is voter in a democracy. They are making all the effort to kill the democracy though.
Your last sentence is most important, Indian. Individually we can be BJP or Congress supporters. It doesn’t matter as long as all of us are supporters of democracy. This is where the SL fails, and fails badly. He’s out to destroy all opposition.
They pay lip sympathy to God. Money is everything to them and their ilk. The ilk have forgotten the Mahatma.
True, Rajiv. The SL is out to destroy the country itself, is my assessment. All the policies are for the super-rich businessmen and women. DeMon was unleashed pretending to solve the problem of corruption and it started the new line of business for people on the right side of politics. The Man who pretends to be God fighting corruption and talks about sabka vikas issues electoral bonds and his party gets nearly all of them. How does that for fighting corruption? Narratives that blind bhakts sell us that SL is God’s reincarnation. It is an insult to all our God. Is it not?
Couldn’t agree with you more.
This hypocrisy is peculiarly Indian (or Hindu): Modi is of course pure as the morning dew. That is because he has outsourced all the dirty work to others.
As Sarojini Naidu once said for Mahatma Gandhi: it costs a lot of money to keep this man in poverty.
Let’s not even start talking about electoral bonds. What about Jio? If the relationship with the Ambani is not crony capitalism, then what is? (There’s only one Ambani that counts. So I use the article The for him.)
Agree, Rajiv. Cronyism is the dominant approach to policy making. I met someone recently who mentioned that the headline about policy choices tell him the people that are calling shots. And the individual has not lived in India for very long. That was a telling insight for me!
“the public is not drunk on Hindutva bigotry: THANK GOD!”
Typical witless liberal self-congratulation!
The public has voted for LOCAL Assembly elections and is concerned about LOCAL issues and Local Development. In this regard, there are no “hindutva” issues in either Maharashtra or Haryana to deal with! Also, with the BJP+SS gaining a much larger vote share than before, it is clear that their base has grown – compared to earlier when they captured more of the swing vote. Plus, it has to be noted that AIMIM didn’t even win a SINGLE seat this time – was that also because the public was not drunk on Hindutva ?
Hindu consolidation is a political reality – liberals who try to navel gaze to claim that Hindutva does not matter are only deluding themselves as neither Sharad Pawar, nor the Congress in Haryana can afford to ignore that or stray outside the lines. Liberals seem to confuse the BJP with Hindutva – which is not the case.
Yet another one with problems of logic. How many are there?
BJP and Hindutva are not connected? Which world do you live in?
Who is against Hindu political consolidation? The last I heard was that India has always been a Hindu nation since 1947.
Hindutva people are fake Hindus. This is what broad-minded Hindus are fighting against.
You seem to be seriously frustrated. Cheer up, a strong opposition is a Diwali gift to liberal pseuds and mainstream commentators.
Hey Ram (or Ramu)!
“Liberals seem to confuse the BJP with Hindutva” , errr…. you mean “Liberals seem to rightly equate the BJP with Hindutva”?
Mazo, either you are deluded past helping or you are a paid troll, in which case you are not to blame since you are only doing your job. but your engish skills being better than the average bjp-it-cell, i guess that it is the first case. is that right?
What ever you have to say the fact remains they were brought down to earth with a jolt from their high perch.
Was BJP arrogant with power? Yes, definitely. Or else, they were pretending to be invincible when in their heart they knew of many insurmountable challenges they faced. Obviously, issues like 370 had no relevance, whatsoever. There were many other state-level relevant issues. First was the inevitable anti-incumbency after completion of one term. Add to it economic slowdown mainly due to factors external to the state; but the state suffered the most being the most industrialised. No wonder, consequent job losses hurt BJP’s prospects. Natural calamities – drought and thereafter devastating floods. Growing agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide. Then issues like Tree-cutting and PMC Bank fraud created lot of confusion and dislike for the state government . Implementation of the debt waiver scheme was not up to the mark. BJP knew that this election was not an easy task. Moreover, they had to comply with seat sharing arrangement with Shiv Sena, which gave way to many rebel candidates hurting the Party’ prospect. I am reminded of the Gujarat Assembly elections where the BJP just scraped through. A similar situation was prevailing in Maharashtra. It is no mean achievement that the Alliance has returned to power – a first for any non-Congress government. Notwithstanding this, BJP is crestfallen, as they had set the bar unduly high. A target of 220 out of 288 was laughable. Ardent supporters of BJP , Modi-Bhakts and gangs of WhatsApp social media groups believed that BJP would do the miracle – they were ridiculously naïve. Good that the opposition will be strong this time. Good for democracy and good for governance. Maharashtra has chosen wisely.
So you are saying 162 vs 98 in a NDA vs Opp is a strong victory for the opposition akin to Gujarat elections ?
I agree that there was some element of trying to keep the BJP in check – this was mostly due to the BJP going aggressively after Sharad Pawar and this was seen as bullying by the BJP. Also, the maratha movement and PMC scam hurt the Govt. Also, the shortcoming in land compensation for Bullet train project hurt the BJP in Western Maharastra.. What didn’t play a part at all was the Aarey dairy tree cutting – which NOBODY in Mumbai gave 2 paisa about except some left-wing extremists.
But overall the sentiment in the state was definitely pro-BJP. Also, let us make no doubt about it – the people of Maharastra didn’t vote for or against Modi – they focused on local issues and local problems – to say that this vote reflects a sentiment against modi-shah is deeply misleading.
When the target was set at ‘minimum220’ and you get just 160- a shortfall of 60 seats, is it success? Same thing happened in Gujarat. Barely a hundred against target of 150! Now see the composition of 160- BJP has just got 105 , which means that it is far away from the absolute majority requirement of 145 seats. Independents cannot help them to attain majority on their own. BJP is now depending on the Sena. The balance has tilted in Sena’s favour. If Congress, NCP and Sena come together they can easily form the government, with an offer to the Sena of CM post. The Congress has now openly made the offer. Furthermore, all is not well within the alliance. The Sena chief had openly declared that it was rotting in the alliance. Day after day, it was carrying out tirade against the BJP in Samana. I don’t think it is a possibility. But the Sena now had an upper hand and will stop playing second fiddle. They are bound to take revenge of five years of humiliation and neglect within the alliance. They will demand Dy CM post and important ministries like Home and Revenue. Fadnavis has been cut to size.
Who will not vote for God of Gods Modi!!!!!!. Secondly are there no right wing extremists in your reckoning?
Just when one had given up on the Indian voter! Finally, the tide may be turning. Will 2024 be 1977 again?
LOL I thought 2019 was supposed to be 1977 again – what happened ?? If you have given up on the voter then clearly you are no democrat – just a fanatical leftist.
Democrats win because they believe in the people – ideological zealots lose because they believe their ideology is more important than what the people want.
Wow. How much of energy do you have to hate the leftists. Please, please show some originality. Then maybe people like you can really contribute to the growth of a healthy BJP, which India needs.
Wow. You put it so neatly. Two thumbs up!.
Is there any democracy in JK now.
Where is Anonymous? In hospital with a heart attack?
RR is taking a basket of seasonal fruit to cheer him up. Given the time on the clock, he might prefer something stronger.
A shock?
:). Anonymous will come to his senses soon and become normal.
Ha, ha, you are justifying your existence on this website, and your half-baked comments with a bitter-sweet reference to me. Thanks for remembering though. Would have used emoji but but not typing this on my phone while walking. Cheers!!
Missing me already.. So sweet!
Guess this is called a win win situation. Ruling party and supporters happy because they are back in power, opposition and supporters also happy because performance better then expected.
The BJP is bad for Indian democracy. Period. The same way Indira Gandhi was between 1975-77. And she was rightly thrown out.
Everything does not need to be seem through the filter of party support. If you love Indian democracy and institutions, you MUST oppose the BJP. The same way so many people opposed Indira Gandhi.
No only she practised Dictatorship what we see in Kashmir is not Emergency or Autocracy. according to BJP.
!! Asatyam Shivam Sadaa Sandesham !!
Shivam We…zzzzzz in a nutshell:
21/10/2019: Flip
23/10/2019: Flop
24/10/2019: Flip
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The BJP should send Rahul Gandhi a garland made of ten tons – a full truckload – of rose petals.
What for “The BJP should send Rahul Gandhi a garland made of ten tons – a full truckload – of rose petals”? For doing nothing?
You should send it to Modi and Shah for not getting majority in HAR and MAH despite invoking Article 370 which no one was interested in these States.