BJP isn’t invincible, suggest results of recent bypolls

The results of the bypolls held for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and four assembly in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal have come as a reality check for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP failed to win any one of the seats. Though, these results may not reflect the mood of the nation, still they suggest a churning among the electorates. It also suggests that the opposition parties haven’t lost everything, as it is being suggested by the pollsters these days.

The Trinamool Congress won the Asansol Lok Sabha and the Ballygunge Assembly seats in West Bengal. RJD snatched Bochaha assembly seat in Bihar from BJP’s former ally VIP, while Congress registered an impressive win in Khairagarh of Chhattisgarh and Kolhapur seat of Maharashtra. Results are seen as a big jolt for the BJP as the party, till very recently was riding on a success wave and people had started claiming it an invincible dispensation. So. What is the message of these results?

Message is loud and clear, “BJP can be defeated.” But the victory in four assembly seats and a Lok Sabha seat also doesn’t mean that the opposition has got any winning formula. These results can motivate the opposition parties to come out of the depression they have worn after the very recent poll debacle in states like UP, Uttarakhand and Goa where they were hoping to return to the power. While Mamata Banerjee has shown that she has learnt the trait to deal with BJP in its own language, results reflect that the Tejashwi Yadav has also improved. For, Congress party these results have brought a ray of hope.

Bengal has become an interesting story for the political analysts. For the last few years, the national media was busy in narrating the rise of Hindu Right wing and the BJP in West Bengal. Now, it’s the time to write an anti-climax it seems. BJP’s citadel has fallen and that too to its own old boy, Shatrughan Sinha.

TMC has won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat for the first time. Not only the candidate who won the Asansol but also the winner in Ballygunge, Babul Supriyo changed his side to TMC from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mamata’s politics of integrating the former cadre of Left and Right into one formidable force may annoy some, but also inspire many. Meanwhile BJP will have to redraw its strategies in Bengal if it wants to improve its show of 2019, when the party won 17 out of 42 seats.

Results in Ballygunge of West Bengal and Bochaha in adjacent Bihar may again be disturbing for the Congress but the party has some stuff to cheer this time. Results of Khiaragarh and Kolhapur shows that the party can revive its fortunes and still has a remarkable acceptability among the electorates.

In Chhattisgarh where Congress is in power, it was under the extra pressure to win. Though the win in Kolhapur of Maharashtra is more important. The state where Congress is sharing the power with Shiv Sena needed this extra boost. The Grand Old Party, sitting on the back-to-back defeats in many states had very few reasons to motivate its workers and this victory will surely push them to make a fresh start.

So, what’s the overall conclusion? Obviously, the results in one Lok Sabha and 4 Assembly constituencies that went to Bypolls suggests that the ruling party cannot sit idle after the big wins in UP, Uttarakhand, and Goa. Results also suggest that the party looks stronger where there the state machinery is more favourable for the Suffragists.

Though the Bihar result is an exception, but the West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and the Maharashtra suggest the same. It’s now becoming an established fact that the BJP needs the state machinery, agencies, and additional favours to register the victories, and it fails where these elements are absent.

For the opposition parties, lessons of these bypolls are, put up a strong fight, mobilize your cadres, and go to the polls with a strong message. BJP isn’t invincible, what helps them is the indecisive and demoralized opposition. People are looking for change and going with the option wherever it is available. Problems are there, everybody knows. What people need is a saviour, the party who can assure them that their miseries will be gone once the party in power is removed. Opposition can grab this situation, provided they put a clear narrative.