Pratap Bhanu Mehta - Hope and Humility The elections have tamed the hubris of political powers-that-be

By Dilip -
NB: A thoughtful comment. The most important points refer to the agrarian crisis (that no one has an answer to); and the near certainty that the RSS & Co will instigate even more communal hatred and violence, as a means of showing that the country is ungovernable without them. At heart they are blackmailers whose idea of politics is to run a mafia-style protection racket: give us power or there will be bloodshed. But we must also remember that the criminalisation of the Indian polity is not linked to specific parties but is a social-political phenomenon that affects all of them. The Congress presided over a massacre in 1984 whose ramifications (total failure to provide justice) have marred the criminal justice system ever since. Let us be alert to the perversions of communal politics. DS

Elections, it is often said, humble the high and mighty. But the recently concluded state elections should be read as a humbling experience for all political parties. It is undoubtedly a massive blow for the BJP. To win the national elections, it needs to dominate the Hindi heartland. That dominance is decisively broken. It makes 2019 very competitive. Narendra Modi’s ability to swing elections in a commanding way is waning. His frustration is showing in that the only edge left to his rhetoric is low blows against the Gandhis. Ironically, it diminished him and elevated them. It has also lost two marquee chief ministers, in Shivraj Chouhan and Raman Singh. Modi has managed to destroy the enduring state level assets built up in these states. Its southward march was stopped in Telangana. 

More importantly, the BJP is now running on ideological bankruptcy: A failing development plank, buttressed by a more virulent Hindutva plank, exemplified by Yogi Adityanath’s 70-odd rallies. The election is also a reminder that communication matters. But any claim that the election is about mere rhetoric or “post-truth” has, yet again, been busted. The tide is turning against it, and the BJP has no strategy to counter the trend. From a Congress-mukt Bharat to the prospect of a BJP-rahit Hindi heartland is a big shift.... read more:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/hope-and-humility-state-assembly-elections-results-5489047/

see also
Bulandshahr violence: After a BJP MP backed accused, another takes aim at murdered SHO. (So Maoist violence is anti-national, but when Sanghi's kill policemen they're being patriotic?)
RSS Is Running Govt, PM Modi Can’t Go Against It: Savitribai Phule
Bulandshahr: Police Eyewitnesses Detail How Bajrang Dal Set Up Inspector’s Death
Abhinav Kumar, IPS: Death of an SHO
Violence Over Alleged Cow Slaughter Pre-Planned Conspiracy, Say Local Leaders
RSS and Modi brazenly intimidating the Supreme Court
More threats and lies from the RSS
Delhi Police Archive on RSS activity in October-December 1947
For RSS, VHP, target is Supreme Court, goal is temple
RSS presents most lethal internal danger to democratic-secular Indian polity
Pratap Bhanu Mehta - Cobrapost sting: Media subservience to power, its contempt for the citizen
51st Victim: IB Officer Investigating Vyapam Scam Killed In A Road Accident
Police Officer Who Busted Sohrabuddin Encounter Case Says State Trying to Silence Him
The BJP is afraid of saffron terror probes because they point to the RSS
RSS Declared Unlawful: Text of GOI communique February 4, 1948
Terror attacks: Swami Aseemanand implicates RSS Chief // LEENA REGHUNATH - The Believer: Swami Aseemanand’s radical service to the Sangh
The Aseemanand tapes - Caravan Press Release
Bharat Bhushan - The 'unconventional' terrorists
1948: Supreme Court, RSS and Gandhi
The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
Petition in S C Accuses National Investigation Agency of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases
Yogi Adityanath: If Ram Temple issue can’t be resolved through consensus, there are other options

The Broken Middle - on the 30th anniversary of 1984

Arvind Kala - Modi's become India's biggest bore... Even our night sleep rings with cries of “Mitron”
RSS front organisations launch violent attacks on Police stations and policemen. Hooliganism rampant in UP
Narendra Modi regime’s ‘genes are totalitarian’, says Arun Shourie
Mohd Asim - When Modi Asked BJP Leaders To Stay Silent, He Left This Out // Aatish Taseer - Anatomy of a Lynching

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