The NDA constituents remained curious onlookers in Parliament whenever BJP MPs got into heated exchanges with the INDIA bloc. While the INDIA bloc reacted in unison, the BJP remained isolated.
Those pushed aside during the Modi-Shah regime are beginning to find their feet and voice. And these are early days yet. The BJP must welcome these developments.
The BJP has faced a political defeat in this election, but its social coalition is largely intact. The political task of uniting the bottom half of the social pyramid — poor, villagers, Dalit, Adivasi, OBC, and minorities — is still a long way off.
If Modi wants to run a Vajpayee-style NDA alliance, he is fine. If he wants to go back to the so-called Modi Revolution, then the alliance is in more trouble than the current calm might suggest.
Naidu will prefer working with Modi to the opposition because he has the experience of dealing with—and of being duped by—Modi. This time, he has the antibodies.
BJP’s fate in the second phase of 2024 Lok Sabha election will be decided in Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, where it performed very well in 2019 but faces a stiff competition now.
From ‘one nation, one election’ to delimitation and counter-Kejriwal plan, Modi-Shah have an agenda for 2029 poll too. But much will depend on the BJP’s numbers in 2024 polls.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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