Congress is on a slippery wicket. The grand old party's return in Telangana is nothing but spectacular. But that glory gets deeply blurred before the party's pathetic performance in the Hindi heartland. Congress had stunned the saffron party 5 years back with its lead in all the three states . But that seems a distant past now when BJP gains decisively in the Hindi heartland which once again endorses Narendra Modi as the Hindu Hriday Samrat. Both Rajasthan and MP are equally significant in Indian politics as UP. RSS and BJP consider these two states very important in their journey towards a Hindu India. Any setback in these states will reflect heavily on the RSS headquarters at Nagpur. The saffron victory in this region is therefore a strong indicator to waht is there in store for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The 5 states including Mizoram have altogether 83 Lok Sabha seats. The pattern in the parliament election has been in favour of BJP in recent times. These states went with the saffron party irrespective of the assembly election results. Now, BJP could feel doubly sure of that trend when the party gets people's mandate at the state level too.
It also shows that BJP learns its lessons fast . The victory of Congress in Karnataka was an eye opener for BJP. It realised the political message that came out of the southern state and responded to the scenario much more realistically than its major opponent. Will Congress realise its lessons the same way now? Even if it wakes up to reality now, it seems doubtful if the party will be able to reap the benefits since the Lok Sabha elections are hardly a few months away.
Curtains down for Gehlot
Congress has been going through some kind of a civil war in Rajasthan. Ashok Gehlot's domination within Congress in the desert state was almost complete with the marginalisation of Sachin Pilot. Gehlot was considered one of the most loyal regional leaders of the Nehru Family. But that image suffered a major jolt when he defied the high command's order to be the choice for the party's top post. Gehlot refused to move from Rajasthan to Delhi. That was a revolt against the party high command. Still , he could continue as the CM in the state. That showed the Nehru family in poor light. It exposed the fact that the family no longer enjoyed the unquestionable commanding power in the grand old party. If Rahul's strategy was implemented, Sachin would have replaced Gehlot in the state. That would have unravelled a totally different scenario which might have paid great dividends for Congress. Now, the stunning victory of BJP means the end of the road for Gehlot. He will be viewed as the leader who stabbed the high command from behind. Every defeat demands a sacrifice. It will be Gehlot's turn this time in Rajasthan.
No takers for Kamal Nath's Alternate Hindutva
Congress calculated that Kamal Nath had the capabilities to bring back the party to power in MP. Kamal Nath in turn banked on an alternate Hindutva to achieve this goal. He even went to the extent not to have the political rally by the INDIA front in Bhopal for the fear of walking along with DMK which was accused of taking on the ' Sanatan Dharma'. But MP has made it crystal clear that the soft hindutva stands no chance before the original hindutva of the sangh parivar.The combination of saffronisation and welfare schemes has proved too tough a nut to crack.
One major take away from these results is that the bargaining power of Congress has been weakened drastically. The victory in Karnataka had given an extra mileage in terms of political power for Congress. That stands diminished right now. The fact that Congress has lost both Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will embolden the other opposition parties like TMC, JDU and NCP to demand more sacrifices from the party. It is no longer Modi vs Rahul. It is going to be Modi vs 'INDIA'. The victory in Telangana offers a consolation prize to Congress. The people of Telangana have rejected the corrupt family rule of KCR. But, in the end , that can not compensate for Congress' loss in the Hindi heartland.
CPM will find the results encouraging in its own peculiar way. If Congress had swept the three states , the minorities in Kerala would have thrown their lot completely with the party. Now, they may have to rethink. And that will bring in some unexpected gains to CPM which has only a meagre presence in Parliament right now. Muslim League also stands to benefit from the election results. The bargaining power of the League will definitely go up in the state. Congress will have to face a much more aggressive League in the coming days. The Congress may also see a greater demand for a change in the state leadership. The ' A' group within the party will insist that Shashi Tharoor should lead the congress in the state. If Muslim League too joins hands then the high command may find it too difficult to refuse this demand.
Published: 03 Dec 2023, 02:37 pm IST
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Disclaimer: Kindly avoid objectionable, derogatory, unlawful and lewd comments, while responding to reports. Such comments are punishable under cyber laws. Please keep away from personal attacks. The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of readers and not that of Mathrubhumi.