The unstoppable juggernaut | Arab News
1 of 3
Home
Saudi Arabia
Middle East
http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/679276
World
Economy
Sports
Lifestyle
Opinion
MERS
Islam in Perspective
Careers
Ask an Expert
Saudi _
The unstoppable juggernaut
Rajeev Sharma
- More articles
RAJEEV SHARMA
Last update 24 December 2014 10:20 pm
Published Thursday 25 December 2014
Tweet
Like
A
AROUND ARAB NEWS
The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) is continuing its dream run of electoral
victories, wresting states after states from the
opposition. The principal opposition party, the
Congress, also continued its horror run in electoral
politics as Tuesdays results of assembly polls in
Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir show.
After winning Haryana on its own steam and
forming its own government in Maharashtra, both
first time happenings, the BJP on Tuesday added
one more state to its kitty: Jharkhand. For the first
time, the BJP will be heading its own government
with an almost clear majority in Jharkhand.
Almost because the BJP won 37 seats on its
own in the 81-seat assembly while its new ally All
Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) won five; thus
together the two allies have one seat more than
the magic number of 41. This is a big achievement
considering that since Jharkhand was carved out
of Bihar and made an independent state by the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2000, no party
ever won a majority in this state. Jharkhand has
had a track record of political instability with its
14-year-old history being pock-marked by nine
different governments and two terms of Central rule.
Marriage age 18 to restrain
dowry-hungry dads
LATEST STORIES IN
Columns
Saudi handed death for 2004
terror attack
Investor confidence in
Kingdom to increase
Are Arabs ready for
the future?
Dear BJP, its Bharat
Family visit visa limited to 6
months
Ratna, not Hindu Ratna
From 1979 to
Are Arabs ready for the
future?
Peshawar carnage
Radical goals for
sustainable
Page 0
development
Race for the Arctic
More
Yet another first time happening in Jharkhand is that the
predominantly tribal state will soon have a non-tribal as chief minister,
the most likely chief ministerial candidate being Raghubar Das, 59, a
backward caste leader of the BJP. Important national fallout of
Jharkhand polls result would be that it will provide more political heft
to Prime Minister Modi in giving the much-needed fillip to mining
projects in this resource-rich state to tackle energy shortages more
comprehensively. The story of Jammu and Kashmir assembly
elections is a bit different. Election results in J&K have thrown up a
fractured mandate with no single party having the requisite 44 seats
on its own to form a government. This will inevitably lead to protracted
negotiations as new political equations are made.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
SWPF 2014
Most Commented
Most Read
Indian maid denied salary for years
awaits final exit
84 comments 1 day ago
Mass conversion in India PMs home
state sparks anger
130 comments 2 days ago
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of former Union Home Minister
and former J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed emerged as
the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member assembly but
far short of a clear majority.
KSA unveils SR860 billion-budget for
The BJP with 25 seats is close behind the PDP. But in terms of vote
share the BJP has emerged as the most voted party with a vote share
of almost 24 percent as compared to the PDPs vote share of about
22 percent.
Pak massacre jolts world
What is even more creditable for the BJP is not just its best-ever
performance in Indias only Muslim-majority state but also the little
talked about fact that in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley BJP
polled more votes than the Congress in several constituencies.
However, the bigger political that has emerged from the election
results of Jharkhand and J&K is that despite his winning streak, Modi
is not invincible after all and it is all about the opposition making the
India kills 72
2015
1 comment 10 hours ago
131 comments 1 week ago
Survivors huddle after violence in
2 comments 10 hours ago
STAY CONNECTED
26-12-2014 09:22
The unstoppable juggernaut | Arab News
2 of 3
http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/679276
right alliances at the right time.
Follow @Arab_News
In Jharkhand, the Congress entered the assembly elections by
breaking off its alliance with the regional satrap Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM). Both lost to the BJP with the JMM and the Congress
winning 19 and six seats each as against the BJPs 37. The Congress
dumped the JMM in favor of a tie up with Nitish Kumars Janata Dal
United and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, neither of
which could win a single seat. Both Kumar and Yadav may be big
leaders in the contiguous state of Bihar but in Jharkhand they are
irrelevant and the JMM is a far bigger political force. This is what the
Jharkhand results have just shown. In Jammu and Kashmir, the
Congress contested elections independent of National Conference,
though the two parties ran the state government for last six years
together. National Conference and Congress won 15 and 12 seats
respectively.
The story could have been drastically different if the state leadership
of NC and Congress were to contest elections together as allies to
take on Modi. Clearly, the non-BJP parties have not learnt from their
mistakes in Maharashtra where the Congress and Sharad Pawars
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) severed their alliance and
contested elections against one another. The moral of the story is
this. The Modi juggernaut is stoppable but only if the opposition
makes the right alliances. Nothing is better demonstrated than the
fact that in the April-May general elections the BJP had led in 58
assembly segments in Jharkhand but in the state assembly polls less
than seven months later the BJP managed to win only 37 seats.
FACEBOOK
Arab News
Like 1,449,212
The opposition is citing this fact to prove that the Modi wave is
waning. This can be a valid political point but all that matters is who
wins and who loses. The fact is that Modi has emerged politically
stronger after elections in four states and shown that his landslide
victory in general elections seven months ago was not a freak.
The Indian opposition parties will do well to remember a quotable
quote made famous by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping: I dont mind if
my cat is black as long as it catches rat. In the Indian political
context, it would mean that an ideology or an alliance does not matter
as long as it works.
Comments
1 Comment
Debuji
Congress will keep loosing inspite of joining hands with any party. Had it
joined hands with NCP in Maharashtra, together they would have not won
even 50 seats. They would bring down any entity by being friend to them.
They have invited people's wrath by their misrule !
HOME
GALLERY
Ask an
Expert
CAREERS
SAUDI
ARABIA
MIDDLE
EAST
WORLD
Editorial
Columns
Letters
Cartoons
LIFESTYLE
Art &
Culture
Fashion
Food &
Health
ABOUT US
Contact us
Advertising
Terms of use
Copyright
26-12-2014 09:22
The unstoppable juggernaut | Arab News
ECONOMY
Corporate
SPORTS
http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/679276
Follow Us
Apps
Islam in
Perspective
Copyright of Arab News 2014
3 of 3
26-12-2014 09:22
