BackBJP tally shows Centre’s narrative being trumped by ground reality
BJP’s narrative on Article 370 and corruption found little resonance among voters, especially in HaryanaThe BJP had banked on pro-incumbency to win in both states, but this did not reflect in its numbers
PremiumNEW DELHI : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was returned to power in Maharashtra and emerged as the single largest party in Haryana on Thursday, but voters left a stark message for it: a slipping tally showed the national narrative is being trumped by the ground reality of states.
The closeness of the contest in both Maharashtra and Haryana comes as a wake-up call for the BJP, which had banked heavily on a pro-incumbency sentiment just five months after the party swept the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 41 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and all 10 seats in Haryana. However, just five months on, its political dominance has been challenged in state polls by rivals snapping at its heels.
Contrary to the BJP’s assessment, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra and the Congress in Haryana rode an anti-incumbency sentiment with the BJP’s narrative on Article 370 and corruption finding little resonance among voters, especially in Haryana, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaigns stressing those points.
The Congress in Haryana, led by former state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) under Dushayant Chautala, were neck-and-neck with the BJP, benefiting from a consolidation of Jat votes and anti-incumbency against chief minister Manohar Lal Kattar-led BJP government.
The Jat agitation, which began in 2016 seeking reservations in jobs and higher education, did not figure among the poll issues for the Khattar government, which discounted the extent of discontent among Jat voters.
Hooda on Thursday sent out an appeal to “all Opposition parties to come and form the government in Haryana".
In both Haryana and Maharashtra, the looming agrarian crisis further dented the BJP’s chances, with agrarian distress over low minimum support prices for crops, coupled with a new quota procurement system diluting the BJP’s nationalistic narrative.
Last week NCP chief Sharad Pawar told a rally in Maharashtra that the BJP only answered “in terms of Article 370" when asked about “farmer suicides, unemployment and closure of industries".
Despite the seniormost leaders of the NCP—Sharad Pawar and former Union minister Praful Patel—being targeted by the enforcement directorate (ED) in cases of alleged money laundering, the Congress-NCP alliance won around 98 seats in the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly at the time of going to press.
In Haryana, too, Hooda is under investigation with regard to a land scam. However, the BJP’s anti-corruption narrative appeared to find few takers with the veteran Congress leader winning by a thumping margin of 58,312 in his constituency of Garhi Sampla-Kiloi.
“The Opposition has worked hard and all members of Congress-NCP and allies have delivered and given their best. I thank them all. Power comes, power goes but it is important to remain committed to a cause and we thank people for the love they showed," Pawar said.
Analysts said on Thursday that not only is the Modi-led BJP government vulnerable to anti-incumbency, but it also needs to focus greatly on micro issues at the state level.
“The strategy (of the BJP) was to divert attention away from economic distress by talking about corruption and Article 370. This strategy failed because basic issues such as jobs, water crisis, and farm distress matter in Assembly elections," said political analyst N. Bhaskar Rao.
“Ease of living has yet to make its way to rural areas," he said.
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