BJP reigns supreme

The BJP’s citadel remains intact. The party has reasserted its nationwide supremacy by winning the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Months after suffering reversals in the byelections in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana (both BJP-ruled states), the party is back on track as a rampaging force. The February-March Assembly polls were regarded as the semifinal before the 2024 General Election. The UP verdict is most satisfying for the BJP as its main rival, the Samajwadi Party (SP), was expected to give a tough fight. However, it turned out to be a battle of unequals as the saffron party rode on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, backed by a liberal dose of identity politics and social welfare schemes. The victory has raised Yogi’s stature in the BJP’s upper echelons, making him a strong contender for the PM’s chair in the post-Modi era. It’s back to the drawing board for the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, which was unable to convince the electorate that it was a viable alternative to the BJP.

The dismal show in Punjab won’t really worry the BJP since the AAP surge scorched both the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress. The party was hoping to play a key role in case of a hung Assembly, but that scenario was precluded by AAP’s landslide victory. It was a foregone conclusion that the BJP’s ragtag alliance with fledgling outfits led by Capt Amarinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa didn’t stand a chance.

The biggest loser of these Assembly elections is obviously the Congress, which finds itself sinking deeper into the quagmire. The party not only lost Punjab, but also failed to wrest Uttarakhand and Goa from the BJP. The Congress’ national footprint has shrunk alarmingly, and what’s worse, its standing as the party that can lead the Opposition challenge in 2024 has taken a huge hit. The Trinamool Congress and AAP look better placed to steer an anti-BJP national front.