A new round of polls is beckoning the nation. A month hence, October 21, will see Maharashtra and Haryana holding assembly polls in one go. Alongside, by-polls for as many as 64 assembly seats spread over 18 states will take place as announced by the Election Commission on Sunday. This would, together, mean a nationwide exercise of franchise, small or big. Stakes are high for the BJP as well as the Congress and other Opposition parties.
The 2019 Lok Sabha polls were, in sum, a washout for the Opposition and a landslide for the BJP and its allies – except for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, AP etc. The present round of polls for assemblies would show whether the BJP will or will not have the last laugh.
Issues in assembly polls are different from that of the Lok Sabha polls. An election to parliament would throw up national issues. Assembly polls would determine who should rule the state(s). State-level leaders play a prominent role in assembly polls; and there are far too many heavyweights around even in Maharashtra and Haryana. Prima facie, it would appear that the BJP could retain its hold over both these states for the reason that the principal opposition there, the Congress party, is yet to regain a fighting spirit. It is down in the dumps.
Sonia Gandhi has taken temporary charge of the party as interim president, but there palpably is no addition of energy to the rank and file. This will pose its own problems in Maharashtra and Haryana. Still, if the people of these states are not happy with the performance of the BJP governments there, an anti-incumbency wave can be expected.
Neither the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra nor the BJP government in Haryana can take credit for any outstanding performance. The chief ministers lay low, if only to ensure that they did not antagonize the central leadership. The result is that, this time, the party in the states will have to draw heavily on the pulls of PM Modi and party chief Amit Shah. The two are sure to bring in the resources for a big fight at the hustings, and considerable energy too, but questions about good governance remain.
The economic downturn hurts every individual in this country, in direct or indirect ways. It remains to be seen if this and such issues will have any bearing on the upcoming polls.