Arrogance and complacency without actual delivery of economic goods has finally pricked the BJP balloon.
With the help of election results of Maharashtra and Haryana, though BJP would form the government in both the states but its victory with slender margins may not enthuse the party stalwarts. It is also not an outright victory for the Opposition while it certainly is a setback for the ruling BJP. The party has certainly far short of its own expectations. In both States, the BJP would form the government but not without compromises with the allies and/or footloose legislators.
In Maharashtra, the Sena insisting on a 50:50 power-sharing demand may not yield beyond a point given the situation. In Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, is the right man to handle the altered situation wherein the BJP will have to bargain hard with some half-a-dozen independents to reach the half-way mark remains in doubt.
Both Haryana and Maharashtra voters punished BJP's arrogance, defeating most of the defectors the party had inducted on the eve of the poll. Even in the Gujarat by-elections the two former Congress Party youth leaders the party had fielded were rejected by the voters. The margin of victories of some of the NCP-Congress candidates suggests that there was no wave in favour of the ruling combine. The large number of defectors the BJP rewarded with tickets in Maharashtra proved costly. Also, the arrogance of the BJP leadership to cast aside notable senior leaders has harmed it. Despite Fadnavis emerging a leader in his own right, humiliation of senior leaders did not meet popular approval. On the other hand, the voter has accorded respect to the old warhorse, Sharad Pawar, who single-handedly led the NCP-Congress campaign. Of course, in politics it is foolish to take people for granted. Complacency and arrogance invariably are punished by the voters.
Overall, the Assembly results provide a ray of hope to the Opposition which was still to recover from the big shock of the Lok Sabha rejection. It also serves a warning to the BJP that an overdose of nationalism and other emotive issues cannot always win elections. Give the voter acchhe din or sooner than later he is bound to turn his back on you. Economic slowdown, real estate mess, farm sector distress, jobs crisis and other bread and butter issues cannot be brushed under the carpet of anti-Pakistan rhetoric. Remember, after the stupendous win in 1971, Indira Gandhi had begun to lose her sheen when the price-rise led to the Nav Nirman agitation in Gujarat which soon spread to other parts of the country. Kaam Karo Aur Vote Lo, is the loud and clear message to the BJP, though it is fortunate to have been spared an outright ouster from power both in Haryana and Maharashtra.
