Dr Nsungbemo Ezung
Wokha Town
It’s gonna be Modi 3.0 in India, meaning Narendra Modi has become the only second person in the history of Independent India to become Prime Minister for the third consecutive term. But the third Modi government at the center will not be a BJP Government; instead, it will only be a BJP-led NDA Government. And this will mean that the saffron party’s grip on political power in India will be loosened as its survival will now depend on the mercy and support of the dozen of its alliance partners.
Although the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a non-Congress conglomerate brilliantly conceived during the Vajpayee-Advani era of the BJP, was never officially dissolved, it was without any relevance and function in the last decade as the major party of the alliance BJP was in absolute power with the party possessing the required numbers on its own to command the power at the center. The NDA was reconvened only in July 2023 as a countermove to the formation of the Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a non-BJP bloc formed to halt the saffron party’s ambitious plan to retain power in Delhi. The purpose of reconvening NDA after a decade was initially part of Plan B of the BJP as the ruling party at that time was super confident that the party would be returning to power with a thumping majority on its own. But thanks to the decisive mandate delivered by the voters of the country during the general election of 2024, rejecting a government dominated by one party, the NDA had once again found its place in Indian politics. With the voters of the country rejecting a kind of government led by a domineering personality with no opposition to check and balance the government, the saffron party is now forced to return to the coalition spirit of politics and governance.
BJP, as of today, is definitely down but certainly not out. The ruling party went to the 18th general election 2024 facing one particular factor/wave that is most difficult to beat in any working democracy in the world and particularly in a country like India i.e. the anti-incumbency wave, and which they eventually managed to beat. In a diverse country like India where the minds of the voters, who are the real custodians of power in a democracy, are already polarized by several factors such as religion, caste, ethnicity, language and region, a single party should reach a point of saturation after ruling the country for ten years. Nevertheless, the ruling party was able to beat that saturation’s threat and reach within the touching distance of the required number which is a remarkable political feat.
Indian National Congress (INC) on the other hand is still down but no doubt is on the path of revival if the party has to put the verdict of 2024 in proper perspective and set an aggressive political agenda and course of action to be taken in the coming days and years. Although still in a distant second in terms of numbers in Lok Sabha the grand old party of India had managed to script the best electoral performance in a decade. With the morale of the party restored and voters showing that BJP as a party can be defeated nationally, despite unprecedented hype from the mainstream media across the country in favor of BJP, Congress can now take an aggressive political path to block any possible BJP comeback.
The 2024 general election verdict will also set the stage for the return of the regional political heavyweights to the national political scene and opposition finding its voice again, as the Lok Sabha is set to get its first opposition leader in 10 years. As the regional parties from India’s political banker states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu find their relevance again at the corridor of power in Delhi, they are expected to play a crucial role in the survival of the BJP-led NDA Government and the performance of the opposition INDIA bloc lead by Congress.
The 2024 general election verdict gave many reasons to demoralize the leaders and cadres of the BJP across the country but the ruling party’s electoral machine is still formidable and ever ready to hit the political ground once again to reenergize the workers, reclaim the support of the people and retain the lost political ground in different parts of the country. With popular and larger-than-life figures like Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Yogi Adityanath, still at the peak of their career, manning the party and robust organization with the support from its ideological mentor, RSS, the BJP remains a dominant political pole from where the entire Indian political narrative revolves.
And until the next general election which will happen in 2029, if normal tenure has to go, a series of state elections will take place across the country with an average of at least five states in a year. And the ruling saffron party will be using each state election as an occasion to prove to the country that they are still in command of Indian politics. However, with the invincible spell of the BJP broken as of now and with one party no longer having any dominance over others, it should be a great lesson for political leaders of the country to not take the people of the country for granted. An exciting political dogfight is also ahead between different national and regional political parties which will leave Indian politicians and observers of Indian politics no time to blink even for a moment.
With the coalition government once again in place at the center, what kind of politics then the people of the country expect in the next five years? And with the ruling BJP in an eager mood to retain its lost ground, Congress’ apparent revival and the return of regional political parties’ relevance in national politics, what would all these mean for India and Indian democracy? The best of Indian democracy will be witnessed in the coming years. But with democracy in full play in the country, there is also a reasonable fear in the minds of the people that politics, which can turn dirty, will overshadow governance and thereby waste the sacrifice of the more than 64 crore (640 million) voters across India who had reposed their faith in Indian democracy by participating in the general election.
It’s a game on in Indian politics, which means an exciting five years await India!
