Assembly elections 2023: Victory of progressive ideas over regressive guarantees

As of the writing of this column, the trends across the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana for the 2023 assembly elections are crystal clear. The BJP has registered a staggering victory in Madhya Pradesh defying conventional wisdom on incumbency and almost all pre-poll prognostications. The BJP’s solid performance in Madhya Pradesh adding seats and vote share sets a new benchmark in Hindi heartland politics with women voters playing a decisive role. The BJP’s victory in Rajasthan, while predicted by many, has defied expectations on vote shares with a nearly three percent edge. Chhattisgarh has emerged as the biggest surprise with the BJP taking the state by a substantial number of seats and a significant four percent vote share lead. The lone consolation for the opposition Congress party was Telangana despite an almost even vote share split between the Congress and the BRS-MIM combine. The X-factor in Telangana perhaps was the late surge of the BJP that saw it claim a whopping nearly fourteen percent vote share. The assembly election results carry several implications to the kind of political response the Congress led Opposition has been pursuing to the clear-headed agenda of the Narendra Modi led BJP in recent months. The Congress’ agenda over the past few state elections has rested on a regressive combination of scorched earth politics and unsustainable entitlement programs. The manner in which the Congress has sought to scorch the political ground becomes clear from the manner in which it has advanced divisive agendas across the country from its destabilising advocacy for a Caste Census to the fictitious narrative of a North-South divide. The suicidal manner in which it has allowed the abuse of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to gain currency by both its allies and loose cannons within its own fold is symptomatic of the political desperation of the Congress Party seeking to exploit communal fault-lines and social divisions. Faulty policies If the Congress’ attempts at stoking divisions were at odds with the national mood, its unsustainable entitlement programs run counter to the economic growth momentum being experienced by the country. From an attempt to return to the old pension scheme to announcing a slew of freebies with the potential to wreck local economies one can already see the costs to governance of the Congress’ guarantee politics in Karnataka. While its free bus travel announcements met with strong resistance with local transport providers, the emptying of coffers by entitlement programs has dealt a deadly blow to developmental projects. Perhaps the greatest blow from the assembly election results of 2023 would be to the fledgling I.N.D.I.Alliance of the opposition parties. The manner in which the claims of allies were dismissed by the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is a reminder of the historical arrogance of the Congress in managing a coalition. Interestingly there is not a single state where the I.N.D.I. Alliance has the Congress as a dominant or lead partner. In practically all of the states where the opposition alliance is a significant coalition, the Congress is at best a junior partner raising the question on what exactly it brings to the table to allies wary of its historical arrogance. Barring the deep south states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the I.N.D.I. Alliance has no significant role for the Congress with perhaps the exception of Maharashtra which has seen significant political upheaval. With its token presence in the northern states limited to Himachal, having ceded Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress has no bargaining chips across the Hindi heartland raising credible questions on its claims to lead this alliance. Thumbs down to the Nehru-Gandhi family’s stewardship The assembly results are also strong thumbs down to the Nehru-Gandhi family’s stewardship of the Congress Party with the voters soundly rejecting their campaign of personalized attacks on the Prime Minister Modi and their hypocritical insinuations against India’s leading business houses. At a time when the nation is experiencing significant economic growth and the Prime Minister has spelled out his decadal vision for a developed Bharat by 2047, the Congress’ lack of a vision for the youth of India and its failure to articulate a progressive narrative of development explain why it find itself so out of tune with the political mood in the heartland of India. PM Modi’s creative political genius The assembly election results of 2023 have made it loud and clear that while young India seeks a safety net of entitlements it desires so with tall aspirations to climb the ladder of opportunities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s creative political genius has been to cast a wide enough safety net of entitlement programs without in any way compromising on the once in a century economic growth momentum that has seen Bharat carve out a distinctive place for itself in the global order as it looks to emerge as the third largest global economy by the end of the decade. In stark contrast the Congress’ regressive pursuit of scorched earth politics even at the expense of the national interest has only resulted in misguided ideas such as a Caste Census that will only take the country backwards to the instability of the 1990s. It is to the credit of the wisdom of the Indian voter that progressive ideas have triumphed over regressive guarantees during this last round of assembly elections ahead of the battle for the Lok Sabha in 2024. The results are also a strong referendum for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to present to the nation his proposal for ‘One Nation One Election’ in the time to come.

The writer is the former CEO, Prasar Bharti. Views expressed are personal. Views expressed here are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._