If Maharashtra results had been unexpectedly dismal for BJP, Jharkhand has been a washout. A blood bath. Even their C.M. could not retain his own seat.
What caused these twin defeats?
Overconfidence and arrogance: ” Ab ki baar, 65 paar” was the war cry in Jharkhand. ” I shall return with a bigger majority ” Fadnavis had claimed in Maharashtra. Seems like Jharkhand BJP leadership learnt nothing at all from Maharashtra results! They repeated the mistake of taking the electorate for granted in their arrogance and have been shown their place.
Ticket distribution left in the hands of overconfident CMs : It is known that Fadnavis got to handpick candidates in Maharashtra and arrogantly left out many leaders years senior to him in experience. Eknath Khadse, Chandrashekhar Bawankule were prominent among those omitted. Though it is suspected that Adani – Amit Shah determined Bawankule’s fate, but reality remains that his ‘ rejection’ dampened the spirit of not just his town people & followers, but entire OBC communities.
In Jharkhand senior leader and Cabinet Minister Saryu Roy was denied the ticket among many other sitting MLAs. He defiantly contested as a rebel against CM Raghuvar Das and trounced him breaking his record of being undefeated in 4 polls. ” A repeat of the Ramayana Gatha when Lord Ram had to take jal samadhi in Saryu river” sarcastically opined a fellow BJP leader.
Another commonality was that Das is a non tribal CM of a tribal majority state and Fadnavis is a Brahmin of the largely Maratha dominant state. Both appear to have disregarded the sentiments of their respective state- dominant communities.
* Local issues sidelined over ‘ Central achievements ‘. In Maharashtra, farmers all over the state were reeling because of unseasonal rains leading to ” ola dushkal”. Price rise of essential commodities had also angered common people. But while Maharashtra people were boasted to about repeal of Article 370 in Kashmir Jharkhand was lectured on CAA, triple talaq etc. Meaningless issues for both states! Other parties like JMM, Congress and NCP were quick to exploit these omissions of the Ruling party to their benefit.
But probably the biggest take away from these 2 state elections should be that Modi as P.M. of the country should stop dabbling in state level elections so much and concentrate on governance of the country.
… Sunita Mudliyar -Ex Editor
