As many puzzles as lessons from Maharashtra & Jharkhand elections which proved there’s more to BJP than just Narendra Modi: Swaminathan Aiyar
Swaminathan Aiyar, Consulting Editor, ET Now, says Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections show there are as many puzzles as lessons. There are no clear-cut lessons. While Hindutva line and local issues worked in BJP’s favour in Maharashtra while in Jharkhand they did not. But BJP will be happy that even where it has done badly in the general election, where Mr Modi mattered, it can do very well in the state election. It would be extremely heartening for the BJP to say there is much more to this party than just Mr Narendra Modi, that is a positive.
In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is all set to form the government. I guess the markets would like that, right? It is continuity and stability.
Swaminathan Aiyar: Yes, categorically yes. It is not just that they won, they won with such a phenomenal sweep. I mean, it is like a slap on the face of the Congress party and the INDIA bloc. The INDIA bloc did recover something by winning Jharkhand quite convincingly going against the opinion polls that had suggested it might be a dead heat or something.
But at the end of it all, in some sense, we are left with more puzzles than answers. Why did the NDA do so well in one place and do so badly in the other? Why did the NDA do so badly in the general election in Maharashtra and so much better just six months later? Yes, they had this women's grant, but cash giveaways before an election have never swung elections, let alone swing it so dramatically from a very severe drubbing at the general election six months ago to an
