Butchered in Bihar: A View from the Outside
After being decimated in Delhi and fallen short in Kashmir, the BJP has now been butchered in Bihar. Maybe a mauling awaits it in the coming Maharashtra civic polls. The question I want to raise here is very simple: what does this election tell us about the Indian polity?
The first thing the political pundits will want to do is to apportion blame. People will point their fingers at the RSS and its chief, at Amit Shah and at the General Secretaries of the BJP for their failure. For example, some will undoubtedly blame Mohan Bhagwat’s statement about reservations.
Actually, I think the problem is the other way around: had the BJP taken a healthy attitude towards Indian society, it would not shoot at him for pointing at the general interest of this society. In fact, he was touching the pulse of Indian society regarding reservations. The movement of the Gujjars and the Patels is not the mere rumbling of a semi-active volcano, but a warning that it is going to explode.
The BJP and the Sangh Parivar are trying to build a wooden house at the foot of the volcano, trying to outdo the matchstick houses built by other parties in the same area. When the lava spews forth, they will all burn.
Second, the Bihar elections appear to presage things to come. A war of all against one, bellum omnium contra unum, to speak Hobbes: BJP and fringe parties arraigned against the rest.
If it wants to survive at all, the BJP will need to begin distinguishing itself from all other parties on the basis of a national programme that does not include banning beef, rewriting NCERT textbooks, and introducing Vedic astrology or Vedic mathematics into the classroom.
[contextly_sidebar id=”5l9tXzl5ukV83KZExrQHysw5NZGUFpS2″]
It would be well-advised to formulate policies that go beyond narrow sectional and regional interests. Democracy cannot cater to anything less than the general interest of society. Only this way would it be able to distinguish itself from others; the Bihar elections show that playing sectional interests will decimate the BJP. Will that lesson be learnt? Possible but unlikely.
Today, the Congress has become a regional party and has no hopes of becoming the national party that it once was. Indira Gandhi’s strategy to use the interests of the so-called minority groups to fight her political rivals has taken the sad form of societal truth today: freebies and appeasements should overpopulate the political agenda and programmes of every party in India.
While the general election of last year indicated the possibility of transcending petty sectional interests, all political parties drew the opposite lesson. Their strategies got back to appeasing all kinds of groups in the name of ‘social’ justice, while not knowing what the word even means. Obviously, in India, corruption and bribery of groups are collectively termed ‘social justice’.
Third, consider the extent to which the BJP stalwarts believe their own spin doctors and PR stories. They truly think that talk of ‘development’ is what brought Modi to power. Kashmir, Delhi and now Bihar show that this silly idea cuts no ice.
The Vajpayee government tried to build a golden corridor and ‘develop’ the infrastructure of India but the nation merely gave it an exit into an alley. That is where the current government is also headed. The BJP and Modi won because they told a story to the Indian people that shared a dream, gave some hope and sounded rather pretty. Having begun to talk like a bureaucrat now, Modi’s ‘development’ mantra appears to be fast losing resonance. Wherever I have travelled in India, there I have heard the same story: he will get one more year and if he does not change…
Fourth, the Bihar election points to the tragedy facing India. Increasingly self-centred regional groups are coming to power, slicing the national pie to line their own pockets. They cannot fill them, because the exchequer is almost empty.
Having never known statecraft, the Niteshs, Laloos, and Manmohan Singhs of India are running the country like an NGO. They think that silly welfare programmes will win them the votes required line their pockets further. The lesson that democracy should always subordinate particular interests, even of the majority, to the general interests of society was never learnt in India.
Unless this changes, the current generation of India’s youth will pay such a heavy price in the next two decades that all the ‘Make in India’ stories will sound like cruel jokes.
At the level of education alone, India is poised in ten-years time to reach where black Africa was in the 1960s. For instance, during the recent Visitors Conference in Delhi, the President parroted pitiful inanities: fund the IITs and the IISc to get world-class research. Japan threw money but did not generate world-class research; China is not emerging as a giant because it is throwing money at research.
Perhaps the worst lesson of the outcome of the Bihar election is that India is poised to become the backward Bihar. People voted with their feet, because the direction they are hurtling towards is known: an abyss.
Not clear what the good professor wants. He doesn’t like development but he fancies dreams and hopes of a better life! He says the BJP is wrong of it thinks people voted in Modi on the development plank. Yet he doesn’t say why Modi won and just what he wants him to do, if not development! If development is a “silly idea”, then what’s a good one?
The Professor is right.
But even he misses the diabolical collusion between Desh Drohi forces and Invaders which has maligned India for hundreds of years now.
Top open his eyes, let me put forward a sample of articles that will completely blow your mind.
Tipu Sultan Unmasked: how our Desh Drohi Media loves Tipu Suddenly.
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2011/10/tipu-sultan-unmasked-capt-ajit.html
How about the false narrative around Modi and India?
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2014/12/we-are-hindus-we-are-indians-we-are.html
Proud to be Hindu, Proud to Indian
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2014/12/we-are-hindus-we-are-indians-we-are.html
Read the above articles to first know about our History’s TRUTHS and how much it has been hijacked by Desh Drohis within India and outside Invaders.
I hope everyone will take a few minutes of their time to read this very important blogger in our midst who has more than 310m (million!) page views on the Internet.
I am not joking. If you have not read Ajit Vadakayil by now, you are probably not reading the most important blogger from India on the planet.
Wow, I am surprised to see such an article from Prof. Balu. Either India is hurtling down like he says, or the Professor has grown too cynical.
the only one thing that matters most is which way the media choose to go. in 2014 they were heavily pro modi,
in 2015 they were anti modi.
why does this most self evident thing fail to register in the minds of bjp guys?
the rest may be important but not nearly as much.
again, get the media on your side if u want to win elections.
the media can cover all your faults, and glorify you endlessly if they are on your side. at some point the uncommitted people have no choice but to convert to the side of the media.
It seems – Modi has two types of advisers – UPA legacy bureacrats who he thought can change and Knee-jerk reactors who want to right the wrong of 60 yrs in 60 months – He need to plant long-term reforms without worrying about seeing the benefits in this term and also bring some populists schemes in 2nd half of his term to keep the flame of hope alive in 2019. He should also ensure that the states that have newly elected govts. of BJP are working their ass off to make things better and ensure that those states vote for BJP in next general election.
Modi sold himself as a super-man during general elections and public expect him to do wonders now! He has to figure out how he will do it as expectations are created by him, and he will only have to fulfill them
“in India, corruption and bribery of groups are collectively termed ‘social justice’.
How well put, . . .
Another aphorism to add here is – In India, constitution grants that the civil rights of some groups trump those of individuals for their inability of the latter to belong to any such groups.
Like all Ponzi schemes, “freebies for all” is an unsustainable economic model – as much as those who want them are unable to understand. But, political parties of all hues have played the cards of reservations, subsidies, unreported incomes, freebies and tolerance for inefficiency and incompetency so well over so many decades – that they never lost their appeal for the rulers and the ruled.
Inane article waste of space of India Facts. In fact Kashmir could never had full majority 4 BJP and Maharashtra and Kerala local body elections have shown that even Red Gulag of Kerala is breached. Bihar n Delhi offcourse the Treachery and sabotage of the SONIA JAICHANDS is now fully exposed. THE BIHAR ELECTIONS LOSS IS TOTALLY ATTRIBUTED TO ONE FACTOR…A..D…V…A..N..I
“If it wants to survive at all, the BJP will need to begin distinguishing itself from all other parties on the basis of a national programme that does not include banning beef, rewriting NCERT textbooks, and introducing Vedic astrology or Vedic mathematics into the classroom.” DISGUSTING.
BJP won to the extent that it could sound populist. Not with agenda “that goes beyond regional and sectarian interests”. It failed to the extent that it appealed to people to go beyond those.
As of now, the 18 month run of NaMo Govt is very much clean but performance = mediocre & apart from present BJP/NDA ruled states, BJP has no plausible way of winning anymore extra till after 2019. Infact, Punjab is a gone case and Gujarat is increasingly looking difficult.
1) So NaMo instead of state elections & Foreign policy, should concentrate on domestic economy. Get the economy running through executive actions & finance bills.
2) Ask his ministers to take care of their respective depts.
3) Bombard the Indian media and public with ur own narrative. Hype up all the good things that u do & its consequent positive results. Initiate/Nurture a strong and massive RW ecosystem on a war footing.
4) drop non performing ministers and spokesperson.
5) Give Amit Shah some time to recover now and let him do his job in the shadow. Let BJP have a new President till 2018. Out of sight is out of mind, one could do miracles when there isn’t much glare of the enemy, For example UP 2014 – 75 MP.
6) Please come up with a massive populist social scheme which gives out doles to poor, lower class, lower middle and middle class. This might not be financially sound, but losing elections is not politically sound either.
7) Pamper all constituencies that voted for u in 2014, monetary benefits are the easiest way to build traction. once again might be economically bad, so be it, as said before, loosing elections is bad too.
implement the above and watch how things fall in place! 2019 victory will be possible then, otherwise u will be a 1 term PM. In 2nd term u can pretty much put all ur political capital to do what is politically incorrect and bitter but necessary & u can use it as ur last term.
We do not know if performance is mediocre – while they are not doing outwardly visible changes they are investing a lot in cleaning up the system which is a thankless job. The govt needs to cover a lot of ground to be able to deliver any good governance, so there is no other way than give them time. If they do not tame the lib-intellectual mafia and the media mafia all the good will be eclipsed by trifles. If one dadri can dominate hundreds of good things it tells enough how much they can hype their good. I am afraid they are doing the same mistake of getting coopted with the media mafia than taming it – a sure way of inviting trouble.
[…] See Balu’s piece on Bihar elections, Nov 2015. […]
This is a pyrrhic victory for Nitish. When things settle down and time for ministry formation comes, the real fun ( and probably fireworks ) will start. People get the govt. they deserve. Biharis have voted for a govt. that will make them ‘Baharis’, that is , without any economic activity taking place and Bihar not being developed, they will continue to migrate to other states and create havoc and ruckus, being a drain on other states’ resources.
Well, what the author is suggesting is this: it is not the talk of development that brough Modi to power. If it is the platform of the development, look at BJP’s loss in Delhi, Bihar and Kashmir. The author hinted elsewhere that BJP has found resonance across the India. This requires a new intellectual labor, not the slogans of development.
To understand this line of thinking, read http://www.hipkapi.com/2011/04/05/bjp-does-not-have-intellectuals/
From that link
“At the same time, BJP is not hostile to something that is really ‘alien’ to Indian culture: Nationalism.”
Shows Balagangadhara has no idea of the origins of Hindu nationalism, how vastly it is different from what he says is “alien” to Indian culture. I noted this on hipkapi itself, didn’t get published. For ages Indian nationalism remained motherland nationalism, which Savarkar categorizes into two aspects – holyland and fatherland (which is the western notion).
The problem with theorizing is that it is prone to generalizations that lived experience negates (which he himself acknowledges elsewhere yet cannot be beyond).
“BJP does not have intellectuals”
One more factual wrong. BJP has more VP and gen-secs who can be called intellectuals compared to any other party. The problem for BJP is the fountainhead of intellectual work that forms basis for its activity. In case of cong/commies the leftist alleged intellectuals lay the foundation while BJP’s source is not of ideology but of cadres which is RSS. Moreover fanciful intellectualism does not sell for knowledge in India, we need knowledge and experience aided with theory not the other way round.
As is expected every one would like to super impose their likes and dislikes to spin out a cause of the debacle . There has been an over simplification of the results not expected of stalwarts penning their column here .India facts has the distinction of very well analyzed , researched and focused presentation of views .
BJP got the first taste of set back in UP by-election where the present strategy of unholy alliance was tested . One would have thought that it would have seriously pondered on the strategy to be adopted in the event of such ganging up .A quick look at the Indian state level politics would reveal that except for few states where still the election fight is between National parties , the rest of them are dominated with Regional parties . Some of the states like Tamil Nadu and Bihar they have more than two such regional parties of substance .By and large in such states the voters have a different frame work for assembly election and different frame of view for Parliament election . Mostly it is a case of switching support from one party to other confined between these two only . When they gang up they become more formidable especially with the ability to fully cash in on anti BJP vote of the minorities . In a way this set back is a timely reminder for BJP to rethink its strategy of all against one riding on the regional sentiment .I am sure the stalwarts would find their way out .In my considered opinion a strategy to have friendly regional parties in the state and a strong BJP at the center should be the formula . It may be necessary to pick some regional stalwarts and popular leaders and build a regional party strongly affiliated to the center . The regional parties will be seen and perceived by the voting public as a party capable of understanding and furthering the aspirations of the locals . All these new regional parties fully supported by the central leadership , should emerge as a counter force to the dominance of the exiting regional players. It will be very much like Muliti national companies facing difficulty in penetrating new markets , especially where the local brands have already formed a strong cartel , deciding to rely on carefully chosen franchisees. To cite an example in Maharashtra it could have let Shiv sena take the cudgels on its behalf . Whining and adopting I told you so cynical attitude of disappointed supporters is some thing that the party can do with out .
if it wasn’t development then what brought modi to power? i would love to know that. maybe i was taken in by the spin doctors.
A defeatist article. A week is a long time in politics. And 6 months is an eternity. So this is not the end. Who knows 3 yrs from now tired of Jungle raj these people might vote for BJP in Lok Sabha elections!
The people voted for Lalu in-spite of him being a corrupt crook. BJP admin must take blame for letting this guy
out on bail, there by denting its own anti corruption credentials. Another big mistake is that BJP is not focusing on its core supporters. There is no progress on the RTE front, and article 30 which are destroying Hindu run institutions. Hindu run temples are still under govt control, no progress there. Not many sops for Middle classes who elected them.
At the end of the day ‘sabka vikas’ is an excellent slogan, but BJP should not forget who voted for them, and who never do. I am sure Amit Shah is looking at the data, without the polarization in the end in the last phase BJP would have gotten 12 or so seats less. Also, there is no reason why the govt cannot split the OBC reservation further pitting one OBC against other.
A good wake up call for BJP, however there is no need to be depressed if proper lessons are learnt.
The BJP (and the RSS) needs to give up the phony hindutva of banning beef and shouting Sri Rama’s name. It needs to work on the UCC, autonomy to Hindu institutions and so on. It must instead seek to set up institutions of excellence and shift educational policy from merely targeting quantitative goals to qualitative ones. Why is it not seeking to capture the support of fence sitter’s in the media? It can try to rework the Ban culture that has been misused by the minorities or legalise ‘unnatural’ sex ( although actually unimportant it can help win sympathy). When will the Hajj subsidy be revoked. In the cases of cow slaughter, vegetarianism could have been promoted as a symbol of Ahimsa and as a pro environment move without a ban. This government is India’s last chance, if it does not produce results India is doomed
Nitish did well earlier when he was with the BJP. He started to do badly from the the time he broke of with them. i have heard since then the crimes have increased. with this election, it is not just Nitish it is Lalu who will be calling the shots with more seats. As he will not be chief minister he will demand his pound of flesh.
as of now, lalu has asked for dep CM Home anf Finance ministries, the juciest of positions. We will wait to see were the state is headed.
Author is against “rewriting NCERT textbooks”.
So he wants vulnerable minds to continue consuming the poison which neo-colonial Sepoys have planted?
agree with you. the author seems to against any funndamental change and only economic dreams of the country. now that BJP lost everyone will come out to blame them. the fence sitters to light supporters. i hope people have more perspective than this.
No, thats not what he is saying. He is saying that cannot be your agenda for governance not whether you can do it or not.
The whole focus on ‘development’ and none on ideological-Nehruvian-socialist political culture that destroyed so much in independent India is indeed a central lacunae. Modi is making the same Gandhian mistake Vajpayee did: believing his goodwill and selfless work will ‘win’ adversaries and people. Forgetting that politics is ruthless politics first, economy second; in domestic as well as in international arena. Ensuring comprehensive defeat of enemies, crackpots, saboteurs and rivals – within and without – should have been a basic, planned work. Instead, he seems to have ad hocism. In fact, Bihar campaign of Modi was not even in line with that for Lok Sabha last year. In Bihar he succumbed to caste, sub-caste considerations, that made him compromised on his own plank: above petty considerations. Bihar might have voted his party more resoundingly, had he continued ‘I don’t care for divisive politics, I care for all’. This was and is the crucial need of the hour, as Prof. Balagangadhara mentioned. Indian politics needs new mindset and real inclusiveness. That Modi started two years ago, but (now it seems) without thorough preparation. Hence falling into the same rut of caste, reservation, etc. talks. These are the preserves of the old, harmful political culture. Winning or losing in this game will not make much difference for the country. Hence, the value of the warnings in this article.
The BJP and the Sangh needs thinkers. Time for mere activism is over
There is too much desperation in the tone and tenor of this article. Nevertheless, it also gives warning signals. Its not just the BJP but the entire forces of Hindutva which need to take lessons from the election debacles of Delhi and Bihar. With out putting forth their hard efforts in electioneering the party last there in Delhi. Here in Bihar, in spite of putting forth the best efforts, the party was butchered. Yes, the lessons to be learnt are not just for BJP for the entire forces of Hindutva. Together, we grow. Together, we share the downslide. Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached, my dear Hindustanis.