Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
What the exit polls mean: Congress and the Left are in an existential crisis
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Politics
  • What the exit polls mean: Congress and the Left are in an existential crisis

What the exit polls mean: Congress and the Left are in an existential crisis

Akshaya Mishra • May 17, 2016, 08:49:25 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

The message from the exit polls for the Congress and the Left is dire indeed. Both are on the way to becoming marginal players.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
What the exit polls mean: Congress and the Left are in an existential crisis

The message from the exit polls for the Congress and the Left is dire indeed. Both are on the way to becoming marginal players in the east of the country, and there’s only a small gap between staying on the margins and losing all political relevance. If the exit poll results prove to be correct in cases of Assam and West Bengal, then both parties could be in existential crisis. [caption id=“attachment_2784482” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]The Congress needs to wake up to the existential crisis it has put itself in. AFP The Congress needs to wake up to the existential crisis it has put itself in. AFP[/caption] Assam was critical for the Congress for many reasons. The party’s footprint is shrinking rapidly in the north, south and the west. While shifting from the go-it-alone policy to calculated alliances with stronger regional parties in some states — a strategy that paid off in Bihar — it has already acknowledged its hopeless situation on the ground. In states such as Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha, it has already lost significant ground and revival would be a Herculean task. A victory in Assam, where it still has a strong base, could have been a morale-booster of sorts. The bad news for the Congress is that the BJP is in the process of capturing all its vote bases. Tarun Gogoi’s policy of being all things to all people in a demographically complex state, which paid good dividends over the last 15 years, is falling apart. The BJP, with robust support from the RSS on the ground, has worked assiduously over the last couple of years to create a base across the several ethnic fault lines. This base originally belonged to the Congress. Parties can survive an election defeat but if the core votes are gone rebuilding becomes a massive challenge. The writing was on the wall already but as typical of the Congress, everyone chose to ignore it. The BJP had an unprecedented vote share of 37 percent in the 2014 parliamentary election. It should have been a warning signal for the party and make it get its act together. It required immediate corrective measures but none was visible. Inexplicably, the party decided to part ways with the AIUDF, a party which had ensured that Muslim votes don’t get divided in the 2011 assembly election. The party’s national leadership was too casual about the problem of dissidence too. Now it has to pay a heavy price. The entire north-east is likely to be lost to the Grand Old Party. The case is similar with the Left in West Bengal. Its core vote base — the rural areas — has shifted to the Trinamool Congress. This is a vote base that stays loyal to its party of choice for a long time unlike its urban counterpart. That Mamata Banerjee’s party appears to be on a strong wicket despite serious scandals such as the Saradha chit fund scam, the victims of which were mostly rural people, and the Narada scam is clear indicator to the shift. The result on Thursday would tell us the real story but the exit polls reflect a trend that has been discernible on the ground for sometime now. The question now is what next for the Left? Will it be able to revive itself? Chances of it are bleak. It suffers from the same problems as the Congress elsewhere: too long in power has sapped its street-fighting ability; it has nothing new for people in terms of messaging; it does not have the capacity to produce leaders who can connect with the masses; and it’s too obstinate to invite change. Both parties have lost the agility and the energy to fight back. And they neither have an ideology nor ideas. Both the Congress and the Left are headed for the exit gate in the east. No tears would be shed for them if they disappear from the political scene together.

Tags
Politics Tamil Nadu Congress BJP Kerala PoliticsDecoder Assam Tarun Gogoi Exit polls West Bengal Trinamool Congress Puducherry TMC RSS Left Assembly elections 2016
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV