[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith almost an absolute majority in the Parliament the Bharatiya Janata Partymay have thought they would sail through the bypolls which have been held across 54 assembly constituencies since Modi became Prime Minister. Since then the BJP now holds on to 21 seats against the 42 it held in the 54 assembly constituencies that have gone to poll … losing exactly half of the number it started with when it came to power.
On Tuesday BJP held on to 13 of the 26 seats it held previously … another halfway mark performance even today.
It goes without saying that in India the outcome of Parliamentary polls reflect a completely different set of concerns for the people vis a vis assembly polls where the electorate are much more focused on local leadership and local issues.
But with BJP enjoying an unprecedented majority in the Lok Sabha it comes as a shock that hardly 100 days into governance the magic of the ‘lotus charm ’which swept across the country like a wave is missing.
Much as the BJP and analysts will put forth the argument that the results are not a referendum on Modi the question not being answered is what of the perception that BJP is Modi and vice versa In that light will these results not be a referendum on his leadership … however marginal the chip on the shine of the Modi armour.
What it is not is a referendum for the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh or the Congress in Rajasthan.
The outcome of the results must be examined in the impact it has on the BJP.
With a comfortable majority in Parliament , the Hindutwa hardliners in the party whom the party fails to rein in despite repeated distasteful communal comments … one wonders how the BJP will now act. A string of assembly bypolls, three in a row have each time shown the BJP losing out. Will this worry the leaders and the hardliners more desparate?
The taller leaders of the BJP and definitely the Prime Minister must watch this closely if it does’nt want certain parts of the country go up in communal smoke.
It is important for the centre to be concerned ar atleast even pretend to be when allegations of crime speeches against the minority community in the country take place.
Today unidentified workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal on Monday ransacked the office of Vikram University Vice Chancellor Jawahar Lal Kaul and also attacked other areas in the campus because they disagreed with his reported appeal on Sunday that people in Madhya Pradesh should waive-off rent and fees of Kashmiri students studying in the state due to the flood situation in that state, since many of them would not be in a position to do so.
Someone should remind these ‘marauders’ who attacked the Vice Chancellor that India cannot run on their writ (the bypolls are an indicator) and send them to the floodwaters in Kashmir to perform ‘tapasya’ for attacking the VC and the destruction to property in the University.
