BJP could behave like a wild horse with no rider to hold reins
The BJP made a clean sweep in Uttarakhand on Saturday, securing nearly a three-fourth majority in the 70-member assembly. It exceeded by a wide margin not only the predictions made in the exit polls but also the wildest dreams of its own leadership. It was indeed an unprecedented win for the saffron party. In the previous three elections, the victory margin between the two traditional rivals was just about minimal. In 2007, the BJP had formed the government with 36 seats. This time around, it was a historic victory for the BJP that left the Congress gasping for breath.
Harish Rawat, who until Friday had claimed that the Congress would emerge victorious, himself bit the dust in both the constituencies he had contested. Not only Rawat but virtually his entire cabinet was also decimated.
The results spread a wave of jubilation among the thousands of BJP supporters who came out onto the streets in celebrations.
The abusive campaign that the BJP leaders had launched against Rawat accusing him of acts of corruption virtually boomeranged since the accusers themselves, in public perception, were men of doubtful integrity. It was simply a case of pot calling the kettle black. The so-called rebellion by nine Congress legislators was deliberately orchestrated when the budget was being debated in the Vidhan Sabha.
The objective was not only to cause embarrassment to the Rawat government but also to bring about its downfall. Obviously, there must have been some quid pro quo between the BJP and the nine Congress quislings or apostates. The BJP then has had its way and the President’s Rule was imposed. However, the BJP and the renegades lost their face when the Rawat government was reinstated within 45 days, thanks to the judicial intervention.
When the electioneering began, Rawat more than proved his mettle as an indefatigable campaigner. He was, in fact, a lone ranger and single-handedly conducted the Congress campaign across the state, addressing over 150 meets in two weeks. However, the strenuous campaigning came to a naught in the face of PM Modi’s hurricane that swept the state.
Thus it was not as much the anti-incumbency sentiment against the chief minister that dethroned his government but the hugely charismatic electioneering by Modi that took the wind out of the sails of Rawat’s campaign. Modi strode like a Colossus across the state and cast his magic spell wherever he went. It was the repeated live telecast of his campaign speeches that further spread his message to every nook and corner of the state. Rahul Gandhi’s 75-kilometre-long road show on February 12 in the Haridwar region, though highly successful, was too little too late.
Modi mesmerised the electorate by his spellbinding
The socalled rebellion by nine Congress legislators was deliberately orchestrated and deftly planned when the budget was being debated in the Vidhan Sabha
oratory. It was a repeat of the 2014 parliamentary electioneering with the slogan “Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi” reverberating everywhere. The credit for the victory in Uttarakhand as in Uttar Pradesh was Modi’s and Modi’s alone. He again proved, if any proof was needed, that he is the BJP’s lucky mascot.
What does this runaway victory of the BJP mean for the people of the state? It may sound cynical but the reality is that successive governments , irrespective of their political colour, failed in their elementary task of good governance even when they had razor-thin majority. Now that BJP has returned with a much larger majority, it could behave like a wild horse with no rider holding its reins. It is an unfortunate truism that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Let us pray and keep our fingers crossed.