In the yesteryears, the results of the by-elections for the five Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, would have been passed off as routine local developments. At most, it would reflect on the popularity of the local leadership of the respective political parties.
But things have changed with Narendra Modi at the helm as the prime minister and BJP as the ruling party at the Centre. In the current surcharged political atmosphere, random bypolls make big news. More so, if these polls are held in BJP-ruled states or in states where BJP is pitching to increase its support base. It is not without basis that over three years ago when Amit Shah took over as BJP president he had told leaders and workers at a party’s national council meeting that they should take all elections — panchayat, municipal, Assembly as well as parliamentary —
in all seriousness and should fight to win.
File image of Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Firstpost
In that context, Sunday’s bye-election results become important, not just because of the spread of these elections — central, east, North East and South India — but also because three seats (Sikandara in Uttar Pradesh and Pakke-Kessang and Likabali in Arunachal Prades) fell in BJP-ruled states while the other two (Sabang in West Bengal and RK Nagar in Tamil Nadu) were in states where BJP is pitching for glory.
The BJP won the three seats in Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh while it increased its vote share in West Bengal's Sabang Assembly constituency — traditionally a Congress seat — from 2.6 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in 2017. Though the seat was won comfortably by Trinamool Congress, BJP's gain in the number of votes was a phenomenal 37,483.
The bypoll in the RK Nagar Assembly constituency, once held by former Tamil Nadu chief minsiter J Jayalalithaa, of course, was a different ball game with jailed leader Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran winning the seat amid charges of votes being traded for money.
The Congress, which claims to be on a revival mode couldn’t even open its account losing all the seats (it supported DMK in RK Nagar). The party remained at the ebb in terms of voters' choice.
Let’s examine the bypoll results and its impact:
The Sikandara seat in Kanpur Dehat had assumed additional significance because of three reasons — first, it was primarily a rural seat where election had taken place amidst heated debates that BJP didn’t perform well in rural areas because of its policies towards rural areas, farmers, in particular, were flawed. Second, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which had come second in the state Assembly election held earlier this year didn’t contest this bypoll and it was believed that the party extended tacit support to Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. And since it was held after the local civic body elections, it was yet another test of chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s popularity and performance. The BJP won it with a good margin, continuing with its winning streak in the politically crucial state.
The BJP’s victory in Likabali and Pakke Kesang in the north-eastern state Arunachal Pradesh can be taken as a popular endorsement of Modi’s look east policy and his government’s stand towards China. The boundaries of Arunachal Pradesh borders with China and China still claims Arunachal Pradesh as its territory.
The victory is even sweeter for BJP because it comes ahead of the Assembly elections in three north-eastern states — Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
The significance of these by-elections can be measured from the fact that Modi and Amit Shah posted a series of tweets on these results. Both of them congratulated party workers and the people of the respective states, as also patting their own back for the policies put forward by the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. But what stood out was the manner in which both of them reacted to the poll pattern in the Sabang seat in West Bengal. They spoke about the present development with obvious optimism for the future.
Modi tweeted:
Happy to see a significant rise in the BJP’s vote share in Sabang, West Bengal. I thank the people for their support and assure them that BJP will leave no stone unturned in serving West Bengal. I appreciate the @BJP4Bengal Karyakartas for their effort.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 24, 2017
Shah tweeted:
The rise in BJP's support in Sabang (West Bengal) is noteworthy. Our party is fast emerging as an alternative to the anti-people TMC & Left front, which have ruined the West Bengal. We will keep working for the people of West Bengal. I appreciate the hardwork of @BJP4Bengal unit.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 24, 2017
The BJP is hoping to make better inroads in West Bengal in the 2019 General Election to Lok Sabha and hopes to compensate some losses it might suffer in some of the north and central Indian states where it won 100 percent or close to 100 percent seats in the 2014 General Election to Lok Sabha.
Shah's another tweet, which was slightly sarcastic in nature and directed to Congress is noteworthy: “I hope Congress leaders won't claim a 'moral victory' even today. After being rejected by Gujarat and Himachal, they have been rejected by people in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. People do not want to accept the corruption and misgovernance of Congress. (sic)”.
The BJP president’s remark is interesting because after the 18 December results, Congress and some analysts had injected new phraseology in bitterly fought electoral politics — “moral victory” and “victory in defeat” even as the party had lost one more state Himachal Pradesh and let BJP return to power in Gujarat for a sixth consecutive term.
Published Date: Dec 25, 2017 03:03 pm | Updated Date: Dec 25, 2017 03:03 pm
