Fresh Breeze Blows in Governance under Modi-Shah-Nadda troika of BJP
By selecting low profile leaders in the three states; Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur, where perfect electoral victories earlier this week surprised many 
political pandits and psephologists across the world, Bhartiya Janata Party top leadership has sent a strong signal on Governance. Though nobody could have dared to predict such a clean sweep in Three out of Four major north Indian states until Sunday afternoon, the results have given an opportunity BJP leadership to exhibit its political acumen and mature governance. BJP a comparatively new Party in Power at Raisina Hills, with only Atal Behari Vajpayee-LK Advani and Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duos at the Centre with 2+2 stints of Governance and its opponent Congress, the Grand Old Ruling Party, in power for most of the period in 75 years with stalwarts namely First PM Nehru, Shastriji, Indira, Rajiv, PVN Rao and Manmohan Singh, were facing many internal and external weaknesses like infighting, anti-incumbency and fear of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in mod-2024. The Assembly elections in last quarter on 2023 were nicknamed by my commentators as Semi-Finals leading to a Final fight in 2024 between ruling BJP led NDA and new front shrewdly named as I.N.D.I.A. to gain advantage ‘through a Mirage’.
The ruling NDA clinched victory in Chhattisgarh (54-35), where a strong Congress Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, with many populist plans and manifesto announcements, looked to be almost invincible.
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP faced a strong anti-incumbency wave against a three time CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and the Nationalist-Rightist Party was in power for over 17 years with a small break in-between when in 2018, Kamal Nath had formed a thin majority Govt. but faced revolt from Jyotiraditya Scindia and his fellow MLAs revolted in 2020 to join BJP.
Veteran Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh were confident to wrest the seat of power in Bhopal this time with a thumping majority but astute strategy and candidate selection by party’s Chanakya Amit Shah alongwith PM Modi and JP Nadda turned the tables convincingly, posting 163-66 on scoreboards on Sunday, Dec. 03.
In Rajasthan, two prominent political stalwarts in either Party; Congress CM and strongman Ashok Gehlot on one side and BJP’s Maharani, two time CM Vasundhra Raje Scindia on the other, without whom the throne at Pink City could not have been occupied earlier, have given way to a first time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma, who has been ‘selected’ as the incoming CM of the State. After BJP trounced Congress (115-69) in the state election held in November 2023, without projecting a single CM face against a strong incumbent Gehlot.
Preparing a set of new leadership for next 10-25 years, must have been the motive of handing over baton from stalwarts of the Party in States, while making elders to propose and groom the new generation for future. The process started in March 2017 when Yogi Adityanath (45) was appointed as CM of the largest state Uttar Pradesh, followed by Biplab Kumar Deb (47) as CM of Tripura in 2018 and Hemant Biswa Sarma (52) in 2021.
With appointment of three fresh and low profile leaders in three north Indian states (which send 65 Members to Lok Sabha and are traditional strongholds of the BJP) the Party has given a clear message to old ‘deadwood’ to take VRS before public sends them to retirement. This certainly sends a message to young and aspiring politicians to find a reward for loyalty to Party ideology and clean image public life. BJP has secured a positive edge with this master stroke over Congress Party, where politicians are born in family from generation to generation.
Modi’ Guarantee Vs Over-Confident I.N.D.I.A : The six month old Alliance lacked a policy uniformity or long term vision. Most of the leaders gathered on merely Two planks; Modi Hatao and Freebies Galore. Offering all kinds of freebies without any limit and logic were used as baits for garnering Votes from public, without giving any estimates for raising such huge funds, could not succeed. For instance Congress Govt. led by Ashok Gehlot, promised a Family Medical Insurance worth Rs. 50 lakhs to all families in the state without telling the voters how the State will raise funds to the tune of Rs. 3 Lakh crores. Many opposition ruled states have made such doles to Ladies, Sr. Citizens, Farmers, Free Travel, State sponsored Pilgrimage, C/ST , OPS and many more without explaining how the resources will be generated and Who will be Taxed to finance these freebies !
BJP though led by PM Modi at the Centre, went to the State polls pragmatically, shied away from making such big promises and promised only reasonable free benefits to under-privileged classes with logic and reason. And PM Modi went across rally to rally endorsing his promises with Modi’s Guarantee !
Irresponsible Quotes: In the middle of the State polls, three irresponsible ‘Blirts’ by INDI Alliance leaders caused heavy damage to their Candidates (mainly Congress). Firstly, Tamil Nadu minister and CM Stalin’s son Udhaynidhi Stalin attacked Sanatan Dharma and whole of DMK went to town to support the irresponsible statement. They forgot to judge how it will impact polls in the Hindi belt where huge majority of population is Hindu and their ally Congress will find impossible to defend. Secondly, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath snubbed its UP ally Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh and refused to offer any alliance in Madhya Pradesh. Thirdly, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced Caste Census in the State and defended in High Court. BJP on the other hand countered it by declaring, there are only Four Castes: Economically Poor, Women, Youth and Farmers. The message went well among the voters in Five states going to the polls in November 2023.
(More to follow, Editor)
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