How different will a Modi-led NDA government be from a Modi-led BJP government?
election and mandate throw up a unique message from the electorate. Arguments for or against are enticing, but ultimately pointless. The people are always right, and their collective wisdom is absolute, as it must always be in a democracy.
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Verdict 2024 is no different. For a start, it is a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A majority for his alliance, a number for BJP that is lower than 2014 and 2019 but still higher than for any other party since 1991. Inroads the Modi revolution has made into new geographies, especially Odisha, indicate as much.
However, the voter has expressed some dissatisfaction with BJP and its persona. Of course, this emotion has not left the party’s collective leadership — including Modi — untouched. But this dissatisfaction is far from uniform and nationwide.
It is a rebuke, rather than a rejection, and it has regional nuances. It has taken different forms in different states.
In some, the party’s missteps and messaging indiscipline have pushed various strands of sceptics into unusual social and political coalitions. In others, the collapse of multipolarity into a bipolar contest has, for once, worked to BJP’s disadvantage. In a few states — Uttar Pradesh and, perhaps, West Bengal — these trends have intersected.
Such are the fascinating and compelling minutiae of electoral politics. With effort, they can be
