BJP Invincible Today, but Politics is a Dynamic Process
Asia News Agency
Despite the BJP’s impressive victories in 4 out of the 5 Assembly elections, Pavan K. Varma (former Indian diplomat; presently a member of the All India Trinamool Congress) writes “a win in UP should not be seen as a semi-final before the parliamentary elections of 2024; nor should one assume that 2024 is a done deal. In 2012, Mulayam Singh Yadav swept UP, with the BJP getting only some ten per cent of the votes; in 2014, the BJP swept UP, trouncing the SP. Politics is a dynamic process. Nothing can be assumed until the fact.” Indira Gandhi appeared invincible after her victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. Her son Rajiv Gandhi with over 400 MPs in 1984 seemed undefeatable. Yet, both could not sustain their wins.
The BJP today seems invincible and the Opposition has to be far better prepared to take it on.
The BJP has been defeated innumerable times in state elections, notes Varma. Its “strength lies in the national elections, where an organised, planned, grass-rooted, coordinated and credible challenge, with a face, a narrative, and organizational vigour, does not yet exist to harness the legitimate and widespread discontents of the people. This is the real challenge for 2024, and the gauntlet lies at the threshold of the Opposition.
