Modi knows he cannot move ahead riding on the back of a shattered and demoralised army of cadres. Acceptance would have also opened the flood gate of bickering and rise in clash of titans. His stance is sign of caution for Congress.

It was this motto Modi complemented; “Devendra Fadnavis ji and Manohar Lal ji both were first time chief ministers, they did not even have the experience as ministers. And for five years they kept working for people’s welfare and as a result people have again put their faith in them. I thank the people of Haryana for blessing us. We will continue to work with the same zeal and dedication for the state’s progress.”

On the campaign trail, Modi had projected the state polls into a referendum on his government, particularly on the Article 370 decision. But he refrained from mentioning this contentious issue. If the Balakot air strikes in Pakistan were used by Modi as a “Brahmastra” on the Opposition in the general election, the abrogation of provisions of Articles 370 and 35A to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was aggressively flaunted in the two Assembly campaigns by him.

Look at what has been happening in Congress after the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections. The cadres and leaders stand completely demoralised. Rahul Gandhi resigned from the office of president probably believing that it will rejuvenate the party and energise the rank and file. But this does not appear to be happening. On the contrary the bickering has simply intensified. One leader is out to show the other leader in poor light and malign him.

Rahul’s intention might have been pious but it failed to prove to be right panacea. His perception might have been correct, but it was far from real politick and pragmatic. It was more of the nature of being idealistic. Once Sonia Gandhi took the charge the situation took a change. She preferred to maintain status quo. It yielded result. Sonia entrusting Hooda with the responsibility to manage the party affair in Haryana saw Congress resurrecting.

Preliminary reports suggest that the BJP’s vote share in Haryana has fallen by more than 21 per cent in comparison to parliamentary polls. Its claim of 3 per cent gain from 33 per cent it got in 2014 is not correct.

Electorates turning to the Congress simply underlines the fact they don’t expect the Congress to act in an erratic and imprudent manner. Factionalism in Congress has been endemic. The results of the two states make it amply clear that Rahul offered to be trapped by the BJP in Nehru-Gandhi trap.

Modi putting his all resources and might and trying to ignite the passion of nationalism and patriotism proved to be of no consequence. Haryana, the state where he used this extensively let him down beyond expectation. The performance of Congress-NCP is commendable in view of Modi’s vow to wipe out Congress using this Brahmastra.

It is strange to watch the more Modi and Shah were claiming to have succeeded in finishing the Congress, the party was striking back with more vengeance. It would not be an exaggeration to say that their Congress Mukta Bharat has lost bite. It is only the strong arm tactics of the cadres and muscle power of the BJP goons and vigilantes that have been terrorising the cadres and common people and forcing them to adopt a passive stance. They are scared that any protest move will be met with murderous attack by the mercenaries. Ironically they cannot expect to get a right nature of morale booster support from a weak party leadership.

IT is a also a known fact that the huge band of dedicated cadres of BJP are in a state of confusion. They are not clear which path ought to be followed as the leadership is not sure on the issue of pursuing correct ideological line. The swelling of rank and file and increase in membership primarily owes to defection from other parties. A recent study pointed out that 30 per cent of the total cadres were borrowed lot. In Bengal the percentage of these cadres has been around 85 per cent. Most of them have Marxist background. Their number in Bihar has been around 54 per cent and 45 per cent in UP. By completely relying on them, BJP leadership was committing the gravest mistake. For them material gain is more imperative and important than adhering to the ideology. (IPA Service)