Bihar
Assembly Election results have dealt a severe blow to the BJP led NDA with the
JD(U)-RJD led Grand Alliance scoring an impressive win. Sri. Nitish Kumar has
hit a hat trick in his home turf, as Sri.Modi did in Gujarat during his tenure
as Chief Minister of Gujarat . The
Nitish-Lalu-Congress combine held sway over the Bihar
electorate, leaving the BJP camp battered. It is explicitly clear that Nitish
Kumar’s popularity overtook and pooh-poohed NaMo’s charisma, which failed to
enthuse and impress Biharis. This is the
second straight, humiliating defeat for the BJP, after Delhi
It
is high time for Sri.NaMo and his team to have serious introspection so as to
arrive at the reasons for this debilitating debacle. They have failed to gauge
the mood of the masses. Launch of Jan
Dhan, Insurance Schemes, Gold Bonds and other hyped up announcements did not
make any impact nor impress the people. It should be acknowledged that a tacit
understanding and communal combination, in a highly caste ridden, polarized
state like Bihar had brought the required number of seats into the kitty of the
Grand Alliance, but this cannot be cited as the prime reason.
Vituperative
speeches of BJP leaders, irresponsible utterances of some Central Ministers, reckless
acts of violence and mayhem unleashed by fringe groups affiliated to the
saffron brigade, all went on to play a
negative role, which ultimately resulted in BJP’s decimation in Bihar.
Furthermore
the Dadri lynching case, atrocities against the Dalits, beef controversy,
divisive politics, spiraling inflation, rising unemployment, falling economic
growth, general public anger resulted in the political vendetta. These factors
boomeranged on the BJP and its allies, meting out a severe gauntlet to them.
There
are other reasons too which may not get restricted to Bihar
alone, but which are weighed, deliberated and delved upon by millions of
Indians spread over the length and breadth of the country. Sri.Modi’s constant
foreign trips have not gone down well in the minds of the countrymen. No doubt,
he evokes thunderous response and applause from the Indian Diaspora, but it
should be remembered that none among the cheering crowd has voting right in India , nor can they influence the election
results back home in India
Viewed
from a larger national perspective, there are some other disquieting aspects
too, that disturb the common man. The first bitter pill came in the form of
increasing the service tax rate from 12-50% to 14%. Given the fact that almost
all services (but for a punitive few) have been brought under the tax net, the
resultant effect has started hurting the citizens in Toto, draining their
pockets much faster. Adding insult to injury is the recent announcement about
the additional levy of 0-50% excess cess on services, for the Swatch Bharat
Programme, taking the net service tax rate to 14-50%. Doubling of cancellation
charges on rail tickets has come as a Diwali Dhamaka Bonus.
While
people were hoping to get succor and relief from grueling inflation, the hike
in service tax rate has wreaked the common man’s financials,. leaving him
aghast to make both ends meet.
“
Once bitten, twice shy “ is an excellent, educative English idiom. The BJP has
been twice bitten, in Delhi and Bihar . No time should be lost to take serious stock of
the situation, initiate remedial measures by injecting effective antidotes into
their political frame, failing which the panacea may turn out to be worse than
the disease. The downward slide cannot be arrested and may get faster in other
states going to polls next year. 2019
may turn out to “ BJP Mukth Bharat “. Beware.
Jai
Hind.
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