BJP leadership decimates Opposition

The much awaited results of the five State Assemblies, touted as the semi-final, turned out to be a damp squib for the anti-BJP Opposition, except for Punjab. This is one State that was going through a churn seething in anger at the mess that life had become in Punjab. Not a single section was happy with the government and people had been yearning for a change. In AAP, the Punjabis saw hope. It is now up to the AAP leadership to fulfill their dreams.

It is a two-pronged challenge for AAP here as apart from the regular problems like unemployment, price rise and corruption, the State is overwhelmed by the drug menace. Being a border State and facing a continued onslaught of terror tactics from across the border, it faces a formidable security threat too. One could only wish that like most in the Opposition, AAP does get consumed by a blind anti-Modi rage to oppose the Centre on everything. Rather it is expected of it that it acts in consonance to recast Punjab from "Udta Punjab to Uththa Punjab".

Coming to the cakewalk that the BJP had in UP, albeit with a lesser margin, credit should go to the Yogi Government for creating a pro-incumbency wave with its good work. It was a low voting election with about 55 per cent of voters casting their vote. Yet, the developmental plank of the BJP here worked in its favour. These elections also proved that the so-called intellectual-secular-liberal forces are wrong once again. They had to fail because in their eagerness to encourage the consolidation of anti-Modi vote they failed to see the impact of the developmental work done by the Yogi government.

UP voters always have shown a strong preference for effective law and order in the last few years. The Yogi administration just did that ensuring that goonda raj is dealt with an iron hand. Contrary to the picture given that the State Government neglected the marginalised sections during the Covid-19 period, it has now emerged that its ration scheme has certainly stood by it. It is a record that in the last three decades no government had returned to power in UP but Yogi could.

The Modi-Yogi combination also has overcome the caste factor in UP. Has caste become redundant in the State? The results should be an eye-opener to the Samajwadi Party that believed in Yadav-Muslim-Jat consolidation alone in taking on the BJP. A good governance model could overcome social-engineering techniques. Everyone underestimated the women factor in the elections. The result goes to prove that this segment is happy with Yogi's 'bulldozer government'. There are several ways to look at the impact of these 'semi-finals' on the future. If any, the results only prove that the party is as strong as ever.

For once, Nitish Kumar could have a rethink. TMC has a lesson to learn in it - please don't outgrow your shoes. Mamata should now know that all fish lovers don't vote for TMC. Finally, these results impact the outcome of the upcoming Presidential elections in favour of the BJP. As for the family enterprise of the Gandhi-Nehru's, well the less said, the better.