After the relative ill-success in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party has come up trumps in Maharashtra and Haryana, two states long under Congress rule. It follows up the party’s triumphant march to the Lok Sabha and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gaining growing stature abroad. In both Maharashtra and Haryana the BJP took the courageous step of going it alone, parting company with former allies. The party led by Modi and piloted by its president, Amit Shah has evolved a new form of federal politics. Promises galore are accompanied by the gentle art of persuasion. It has thrown a challenge to the Congress model of politics and governance. It also signifies a strengthening of the bond between the Centre and the states. In Maharashtra and Haryana, it was not so much the party as Narendra Modi who came into focus. While local issues were emphasized, Modi mainly projected the hopes of the Centre to the states allowing centralization of politics. At the same time, the BJP played down the Hindutva issue.
Of course, the BJP was helped by the weakening of the adversaries. The Congress and the NCP had developed a widening breach. The Shiv Sena could no longer rest on the withered laurels of Bal Thackeray and Uddhuv Thackeray was hardly a contender. Raj Thackeray’s MNS had also been driven to the wall. In Haryana, the Congress had been tarnished by the land scam involving Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. The Devi Lal-Chautala citadel had also caved in.The decline of the Congress to an insignificant presence in the Lok Sabha was bound to reflect in the prospects of its state units. The secularism slogan had lost its bite and has not roped in the Left. Rahul Gandhi has proved that one Karnataka does not prove a nationwide achievement. The Congress has done a little better in Maharashtra than the Lok Sabha debacle suggested but the BJP has won youth power in the country. The Congress rules only in Karnataka, Kerala and Assam. In Assam, the Tarun Gogoi ministry is rocking.
