ANALYSIS
The marathon exercise of conducting the biggest democratic election process in the history of mankind has finally come to an end. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come out as the single biggest majority holder, a situation taking place for the first time since 1984 in an era where coalition politics had been accepted as the norm.
However, the outcome of the 16th general elections has surely not come as a surprise to the leaders of the Indian National Congress. The success of Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and now the soon to be former chief minister of Gujarat, along with being known as a progressive leader, can be traced to the fact that India’s heart was set to vote the Congress out more than voting the BJP in.
Within the first hour of counting, it was clear to whom the majority was going to go to. Even some BJP leaders themselves were surprised by their party’s incredible performance, especially in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, where the party won 72 of the 80 seats. “I would have been content with 50 in UP, but this is very good,” said a BJP leader. The surprise this time in BJP winning however is that the party’s numbers have managed to undermine even some of the strongest regional parties in the country, especially in the northern belt. Regional heavyweights such as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in UP, and the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar have suffered huge and unprecedented defeats paving way for a complete sweep for the BJP.
The angst in the Indian population against the Congress was so viral, that in cases such as New Delhi, even though AAP lost, the new party managed to significantly raise the percentage of votes it received compared to the party’s performance in the state polls last year. In some seats in Delhi, AAP was ahead of some of Congress’ most veteran politicians.
The creation of this situation for the Congress is the party’s own dynastic structure. A party which itself is plagued by lack of democratic structures within its workings, trying to govern the world’s largest democracy, was always going to be an ardent task. This situation of the Congress and Gandhi family’s control was specifically brought into public debate as whether the party under their leadership was even letting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh do his job.
Evidently Sonia Gandhi was able to control India’s fortunes and misfortunes without being in a public position to be held accountable for. During the press conference held by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi to congratulate the new government today, Sonia Gandhi said that the party’s “parampara” (traditions) was one of its biggest assets, and this perhaps indicated that the Gandhi family is still in no mood to dilute their grasp and commit to a more democratic structure in order to pull out the best political leaders from their own talent pool.
And the Congress in fact, does not have a shortage of able leaders; it is whether they are allowed to perform their duties without being bound to the family’s definition and interpretations of their paramparas. For example, a person like Narendra Modi would have probably never been able to reach the top echelons of the Congress party’s leadership as he did in the BJP.
A political party which has decided to remain dynastic and where talent cannot be nurtured unless it was hand-in-hand with whatever the ruling family wants will find it hard to sustain itself in today’s environment. The Congress, despite doing well in its first tenure, needs internal introspection more than anything else. The ills and mishits that have deluged the party since 2009-10 have mostly come from within the party and its ideals than any other external factors.
Congress’s failure has come from the Gandhi family, and it remains to be seen how the party’s other members, loyalists, careerists and dissenters, will deal with such a massive loss and whether they will demand Rahul Gandhi to step away from taking any centric political roles in the future. By the looks of Rahul Gandhi’s body-language and expression during the press conference with Sonia Gandhi, the young scion may just happily abdicate his political responsibilities that his surname automatically gave him upon his birth.
Actress Ana de Armas caught kissing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s son in viral photos
Oreshnik's Shadow: Will Russia's hypersonic missile force west to back down?
‘You’re So Beautiful’: World’s tallest woman meets world’s shortest woman over tea, pics go viral
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Consequences of GRAP-4 are drastic, may have adverse effects, says SC
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Schools likely to stay closed till..., check city-wise update
Maharashtra: 3 killed, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Sangli
THIS farm is selling a cup of coffee for Rs 28000, but there's a twist, it is...
Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed after encounter with security personnel in Sukma
Mukesh Ambani's SUPERHIT plan for Jio users, offers unlimited 5G access for 1 year for just Rs...
IND vs AUS 1st Test: KL Rahul's dismissal sparks DRS controversy in Perth Test
Dense fog, heavy rain predicted in these states till November 25; check here
Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile: Which nations are within its range?
Bihar teacher, principal reach school in drunken state; know what happened next
'I have faced a lot of...': Arjun Kapoor REVEALS his biggest fear amid break up with Malaika Arora
How millions of Indians may get affected due to US indictment of Gautam Adani in bribery case
Amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan says 'missing someone is okay but...'
After Bibles, watches and sneakers, Donald Trump is now selling autographed guitars, price is...
Delhi pollution: Air quality improves to ‘very poor’ category, AQI at...
Vladimir Putin's BIG threat, warns he could strike UK with new ballistic missile if...
Shillong Teer Results TODAY November 22, 2024 Live Updates: Check winning numbers here
Somebody misbehaved with Alia Bhatt on Highway sets then Imtiaz Ali had to...
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal reveals twist behind Rs 200000 job fee, closes application window
Days after Ratan Tata's demise, Tata Group's Rs 131000 crore company inks pact with ADB for...
WATCH: Woman makes Biryani with Parle-G biscuits, viral video fumes internet
Only train in India in which passengers can travel for FREE; check route, timings and more
'Justice for biryani': Parle-G biryani takes internet by storm, video goes viral
DNA TV Show: Why Gautam Adani charged with bribery and fraud in US
IND vs AUS: Records Virat Kohli can break during Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Diljit Dosanjh fans get angry over Ananya Panday's birthday post for her grandmother, here's why
Reddit suffers outage with ‘upstream connect error’ message, says 'currently investigating...'
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: How has Jasprit Bumrah fared in Tests in Australia?
Delhi records coldest night of the season, temp drops to...
Crossing the Line: Ukraine's Use of Storm Shadow Missiles and the Escalation of Conflict
When Malaika Arora talked about the controversial ‘instant pleasure’ ad, it was for…
This is the world’s most expensive shopping street, not Fifth Avenue, New Bond Street, it is...
Big setback for Gautam Adani, Kenya cancels Rs 6216 crore deal with Adani Group due to...
Viral video: Man’s jugaad to stay warm in winter will leave you SHOCKED, watch here
Hinduja Group firm gets key approval for acquisition of Anil Ambani's debt-ridden Reliance Capital
Viral video: Middle-Class man lives dream of having tea at Taj Hotel, netizens applauds
Shloka Mehta looks stunning in white floral kurta as she clicked with Akash Ambani, it costs Rs....
Who is Sagar Adani, Gautam Adani's nephew, accused of bribery, fraud charges in US?
PayPal down: Several users face issue while logging into accounts, say 'no one could...'
IND vs AUS: Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins eye historic captaincy milestone in Perth Test
BGT 2024, Ind vs Aus: Can Shubhman Gill be the new Cheteshwar Pujara? Is he really ready?
The Ultimate Guide to Luxury Gifting: Discover Heirloom Pashmina by Pashmina.com
Effortless Relocations: The Perks Of Professional Removalists In Melbourne
Watch: Pakistan fan with 'Imran Khan' poster asked to leave Hobart stadium in Australia