The results were about BJP’s unambiguous electoral triumph and the heralding of big trouble for Congress and the opposition. Here’s how.
1.Saffron surge leaves no way in for Congress
The first big implication: The continuing national domination of BJP and weak and fragmented nature of the opposition. Perhaps in no national election since 1984 has the incumbent party appeared as clearly headed for a near-certain victory six months before polls. BJP won three big northern states against Congress, battling severe local headwinds. This presages a possible third consecutive national rout of Congress across the Hindi belt. In 2019’s Lok Sabha election, BJP won 171 of 186 seats where it directly faced Congress. Considering Congress’s collapse in MP, despite two decades of state-level incumbency against BJP, there appears little prospect of a Congress revival in north & central India over the next few months. Another BJP sweep of its stronghold states would provide a cushion and insulate its parliamentary majority from possible setbacks in states such as Bihar and Maharashtra.
2. Modi’s charismatic leadership
No leader represents an invincible Brahmastra but Modi has demonstrated once again he remains a powerful force even in state-level politics particularly when he is leading a BJP-challenger campaign – as in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. In both, the Modi-Shah leadership helped revive a sagging party organisation and pushed through key compromises between leaders. Modi’s popularity also helps stitch together BJP’s ideological vote bank, smoothing out divisions between OBCs and upper castes through direct personality- based appeals.