Democracy is Alive
The past few months have seen a lot of posts related to India politics from my end. The largest democracy deserves some attention considering the complexities that come in such elections. The narrative had been an overwhelming victory for the incumbents in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but 4th June had different plans for us. The result was the same, but the journey to the result was quite dramatic and unexpected.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP won the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 and Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the 3rd consecutive term on 9th June. While all this looks on expected lines, BJP has not won an absolute majority and has ended up forming an alliance with JDU and TDP under Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. This is in stark contrast to the expectation that BJP would win an overwhelming majority and the government would function as it is.
This result is not only a victory for NDA, but a victory for the democracy. It will ensure that BJP is on its toes as one too many defections can lead an overturn of the government. On top of that, every bill will go through logical resolution before being passed instead of it being on the whims of one party.
What transpired in such a turnaround of fortunes and the surprise result?
1. Anti-incumbency: BJP has been in power for the past 10 years and it is natural that some regions have not got the preference as opposed to other states that have been BJP’s favorite. This caused a turn of fortunes in some states for BJP resulting in drop in seats.
2. I.N.D.I.A is eating: The inception of the I.N.D.I.A alliance was bound to eat into the seat dynamics for BJP as the multiple parties could strategize where to play and where not to play to beat the direct competitions.
3. Rise of regional parties: Regional parties were a strong force in southern part of India, but this election has shown that regional parties can call the shots across India. Samajwadi Party’s comeback coupled with Shiv Sena UBT and Trinamool Congress proved that regional parties are a force to reckon with in their areas.
These factors have contributed to the decline in number of seats for BJP while still retaining power.
The rebirth of democracy can be attributed to the following factors to look forward to in the next 5 years.
1. The No Confidence motion is just around: With the government hanging on tenterhooks with alliance partners, the no confidence motion is just a few defections around. Even the majority heavy Congress could not escape the no confidence motion from their trusted partners, CPI (JM) in 2008. This will ensure BJP practices accountability and transparency.
2. The fight for cabinet positions: The coalition government ensures that there is even representation of different parties in the cabinet. The existing coalition forces BJP to hand cabinet ministries to their coalition partners like Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu.
3. Time to give all states equal preference: This is also an eye opener that state assembly elections will not be smooth sailing and all states need to have an equal focus to ensure that NDA maintains its credibility for the next 5 years.
While 2024–2029 could well be Narendra Modi’s swansong, the rebirth of democracy will give him sleepless nights and ensure that he is out there doing the best for the country.
