By H H Mohrmen
The results of the 16 Lok Sabha election although on expected lines has, nevertheless, shocked the entire nation because the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance won with an unprecedented record which exceeded the projections in all opinion and exit polls. It is said that this is the Congress’s worst ever debacle in the general election since Independence and the party has never ever done so badly, that it could not even reach the half century mark.
This result of the 16 Lok Sabha raises some important questions (1) What will be the Congress’s future? (2) What major reforms would the party take to move forward to the future? (3) Will the unprecedented win make Narendra Modi the authoritarian leader that his worst critics fear? (4) Will the unparalleled success make him shed his true colours and reveal the fascist that his detractors blame him to be?
It will be interesting to see the new path that the Congress will chart out for itself in the future. Will the Party accept the fact that the people of this country are tired of dynastic politics and do away with it? But can the Congress party exist without the Gandhi family? The complete rout of the party in the entire nation will force the party to do some in-depth introspection and come up with a blueprint of the party’s future strategies. One thing, however, is certain; the Congress cannot and will never be able to survive without the family. The party’s disastrous performance in the election gives the party men and women more reasons to cling to the family like a crab to its mother. Having a leader from the family is a tradition in the Party, hence it easier said than done for the Congress to be led by anyone other than a member of the Gandhi family. But even if someone else were to lead the Congress, the shadow of the family will always loom large over the party like Sonia overshadowing Dr Manmohan Singh in the UPA government. So it is safe to say that at least in the near future, the Gandhi family is here to stay with the Congress and in the politics of the country.
The most important lesson that the Congress needs to learn from this election is not to take the people of India for granted. Collective wisdom still prevails and people can judge Governments that perform from those that do not and throw out the non-performing government at the first available opportunity. The results of the election to 16 Lok Sabha also proved the truth of an old adage, “You can fool some people some time, and some people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” And yes some call the election results ‘freedom’ but I agree with my friend Arwat who posted on his Facebook page ‘democracy reclaimed.’ If the results of this election is anything to go by it is that the people of this country have reclaimed their rightful place in the democratic space as masters. Now at lease at this juncture we can say that we agree with Abraham Lincoln that “democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The other lesson that can be learned from the election (if they ever learn), is that the regional parties chance of winning the election is remote if they still remain divided. The Congress in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills got their calculations right; they knew that the split in the regional parties vote bank would be to their advantage. And that took the Congress to the finishing line.
Shibun Lyngdoh’s performance has also shocked many political pundits in the state; he is a rank new comer into politics who forayed into the fray quite late in the day. None expected him to reach the 30, 000 mark, but Shibun’s performance has surpassed his own estimation. He was with this writer at the DC’s office in Jowai on the counting day and he admitted that he was happy with the results even though he had not won. Shibun’s achievement only proved that the Modi wave which has swept across the country did hit the Meghalaya shores too.
The regional parties should learn an important lesson from the results the Shillong Parliamentary constituency. The BJP has arrived in Meghalaya once again in a big way after late TH Rangad passed away. The banner across the horizon says “Meghalaya here we come.” Both the Congress and the regional parties need to be concerned about the advent of the party in the state because it is going to cut from the vote share of both the Congress and the regional parties. Former BJP MLAs like AL Hek will now regret the day they decided to switch alliance from the BJP to the Congress. In fact it will be no surprise if political leaders of every shade make a bee line to join the triumphant party that is going to lead the country for at least next five years.
Now for the people of Meghalaya the question that is: What’s in store for Meghalaya now? It is going to be a challenge for the Congress led government in the state. The MUA will not have any patron in Delhi now. The State which depends on the central government’s support to run its government will have to walk through difficult days ahead. One thing is sure though – Dr Mukul Sangma will regret the day he tried to take on Modi at the meeting of the state Chief Ministers in Delhi. Perhaps it will also help Mukul realize that what he did last year was to challenge the lion from the Gir forests, but he is no Daniel is he?
The nation is yet to recover from the shock of the unprecedented win of the BJP and the celebration is yet to die down in every BJP camp, but the message is loud and clear- the nation is fed up with the Congress led UPA and is willing to give the BJP and its alliance a chance to make a difference. Some sections of the society criticize Modi for being arrogant and are concerned that the kind of mandate that was given to him and the BJP by the nation would turn him into a dictator. But for the people of India Modi who is proud of his humble beginning as tea vendor in the railway platform is a leader whom they are willing to put their faith on.
Narendra Modi also ushered in a new kind of general election campaign in the political system of the country which is akin to the US presidential election. It is now proven that the party or the alliance that has a prime ministerial candidate has an edge over the party like the Congress which is still relying on the old tradition of the members of parliament electing the leader of the house to be the prime minister of the country after the elections.
It remains to be seen how Modi will deal with the Hindu fundamentalist elements when they raise their ugly heads in the future but the nation hopes that good days will come to this country as promised by Narendra Modi the designated Prime Minister of this country on his first victorious tweet.