[intro]The voter in Bihar have shown the door to BJP yet again, after Delhi’s rout. It is time for Mr Modi to take stock of the lessons from this episode and get the act together in his government, his cabinet and his party.[/intro]
Bihar Verdict turned out be an anti-climax for Modi fans. A sweeping victory for the grand alliance of JDU and RJD has managed to upset Amit Shah’s juggernaut and put Modi’s party in the dock for the time being. After pulling out all the stops including announcement of Rs. 1.25 lakh crore package to Bihar and making umpteen election rally speeches, the voters have clearly stuck to the old guard of Nitesh/Laloo who combined to defeat the forces of Modi and Amit Shah.
It is interesting to note that the Elections in Bihar have been projected as if they are Parliamentary Elections. They are not, Modi is still in majority to rule the country but the lessons are many for the followers of his camp.
1. Don’t take the voter for granted: A cardinal mistake which every politician in India has made and Modi and his gang proved no exception to the rule. Right from the below-the-belt comments on Laloo and Nitesh to the massive freebies offered to Bihar state, the voters have clearly seen that Modi is just trying to woo them. Won’t the voter know that the BJP promised the moon for AP including special packages but did not do anything concrete since both BJP and TDP came to power in AP?
2. Focus on Governance and Micro Issues instead of religion: While there are many local issues at stake in Bihar, the fact is the voter’s lives are not dramatically changed by Modi regime since assuming power at Delhi. Inflation in food pulses has sky-rocketed thanks to hoarders and speculators running rampant. Major reforms and governance issues were being brushed under the carpet while instances of polarisation on religious issues has assumed bigger proportions distracting the general public. It is time to assess the performance of the Union Cabinet itself whether everyone in the team is delivering versus expectations. Focusing on religion, polarizing the voters and keeping a mendant’s silence on issues that are gnawing at the civil society may not help his cause.
3. Don’t underestimate the Opposition: From the beginning Modi and his leading man Amit Shah were dismissive of the opposition. It was wrong to discount the track record of Nitesh Kumar on the same lines as Laloo Yadav and it was a suicidal ploy to paint them both with the same brush especially when the two announced a combined force to fight the NDA alliance.
4. You don’t have to win each battle to stay strong: The biggest mistake that BJP’s think-tank is doing is to diffuse their efforts in the pursuit of absolute power by driving their team’s paraphernalia and energies into winning in elections at the fringes. If the Rajya Sabha strength is giving sleepless nights to BJP government at the centre, there has to be better ways to collaborate with the allies and non-allies in building a good governance record and settle issues fast. Over the next two years, Bihar will see about five Rajya Sabha seat elections of which going by the current show, BJP should be able to retain at least two of them. Three Rajya Sabha seats are not something that should matter to BJP given that some of their strongest states like Haryana and Maharashtra are going to give them good uptick in the Rajya Sabha seat count. This is a big mistake the BJP is making – chasing Assembly elections to gain total control or penetrate new markets instead of focusing energies on the work-in-progress at the Centre and building bridges with known allies. At the rate at which they are losing ground in states like Andhra Pradesh because of general lack of empathy towards the challenges of building a new capital and a state, they will perhaps lose all their seats in this part of the state in the next election. This makes them no different from Congress-I who neglected constituencies which have been their bastions for decades. The NDA government is in power with the most decisive mandate. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee.
In summary, Mr Modi has a lot of work to do even before the dust settles in Patna. There is a storm coming in Delhi that can get bigger by 2019 if he fails to read the lessons the voter in Bihar gave his party. Mr Modi’s party has lost the elections in Delhi and now in Bihar, but is he getting the message before things turn costly for him? Food for thought.
