That defeat has neither shaken his confidence, nor diminished his resolve to continue fighting the rightist forces, is evident in his reiteration “the battle of ideology will continue". However, it would also be wrong to construe that Modi has succeeded in refurbishing his sagging image and polish his charisma. A closer insight into the nature of the results would reveal that the chasm between the RSS and Modi has further widened.

It is not at all a secret that the RSS rank and file has been feeling angry and disillusioned with Modi. They had virtually been distant from the electioneering. But as it has been mentioned in this column on many occasions, the RSS has higher stakes in these elections than Modi, and the RSS cadres took upon the onerous task to ensure the victory of the BJP. After announcement of the results, Modi who has been striving for a third straight term as the Prime Minister, used the victory to push his campaign for next year’s general election.

The contrast between the mission of RSS and Modi was quite evident. While RSS envisioned to motivate its cadres and get its karyakartas ready for the 2024 battle, Modi was euphoric that the Assembly poll “hat-trick” has provided the “guarantee of a 2024 hat-trick”. Modi has genuine reason for being ecstatic as he is assured of the patronage of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Till Bhagwat is in command, other RSS leaders will find it difficult to have him replaced.

Though the BJP owes the spectacular victory to the RSS, Modi has been using it to deprecate the RSS editorial carried in its mouthpiece Organiser in June this year, wherein it was mentioned that Modi has lost charisma, image and vote-catching acumen. Yesterday, he played up the “Modi ki guarantee” slogan to reassert his authority and charisma, much to the embarrassment of the RSS leaders. He exhorted “Jahan dusron ki ummid khatm hota hai, wahan se Modi ki guarantee shuru hoti hai (Where hope ends for others, Modi’s guarantee begins).”

Post election, a calculated attempt is being made to create a new pro-Modi narrative. Some people have also started questioning the ideological approach of Rahul. But they ought to understand that the saffron victory in three states was not connected to any kind of ideology. The fact is the ideological plane of RSS and BJP is too fragile and weak; instead they won based on the strategic plane.

It is evident that the Congress satraps have refused to take the message from Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in proper perspective. Leaders like Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot have continued to follow the old mode of the functioning. The worst was with Kamal Nath. It would not be exaggeration to say that he ruined the winning prospect. He did not allow the holding of the INDIA bloc meet in Bhopal in the midst of the electioneering. There is no denying that it would have boosted the morale of opposition parties and brought the leaders together to fight for a common cause.

Of course, the INDIA bloc was formed to defeat BJP and ensure the ouster of Modi from power. But heaven would not have fallen if Kamal Nath had conceded the demand of the state Samajwadi Party for five seats. The results from MP make it evident that SP has been instrumental in defeat of the Congress in at least ten seats. The unwarranted and irrational action of Akhilesh Yadav has also helped BJP. The matter could have been settled at state level, but for the reasons known only to him, he turned it into a national issue which eventually had an adverse impact on poll prospect in two other states.

The arbitrary and autocratic approach of state satraps in selection of candidates has also adversely affected the outcome. The agencies assigned to select candidates in Karnataka had sorted out the names for MP also. But Kamal Nath threw the list in the dustbin and fielded his yes-men. In a way, he challenged the authority of the Congress leadership. The manner in which the state satraps prostrated before the local godmen is also deplorable. When the original salesman of Hindutva is available freely, why would the people should prefer to buy it from some duplicate seller. Moreover, this tactics basically punctured the Rahul’s narrative.

The Congress leaders, and especially Rahul, should have realised that Congress is not INDIA. It is a constituent of INDIA. He should have agreed to the proposal of Nitish Kumar to continue with the INDIA programme, even while the country was in the midst of election. Keeping INDIA inactive during the last three months has cost the bloc dearly. An active and spirited INDIA bloc would have motivated the alliance partners in all the three states to work unitedly. Ironically, while the Congress fought against BJP, others behaved like passive spectators. It proved to be counter-productive.

Till today, the INDIA bloc has not come out with its roadmap as to how it plans to fight the rightist forces. The INDIA bloc should have sent a strong message that it means business. A number of incidents have taken place in recent weeks, but its leaders refused to react. A sense of camaraderie has to be injected once again. While Modi and his ED, CBI and IT have been targeting the opposition leaders in states, the INDIA bloc continues to be in an amnesiac state. They must send strong and politically correct message that they have a clear purpose and they have come together to achieve that.

If Rahul is to be believed, the task before INDIA is of gigantic nature. Simply floating a forum is not enough; it must connect with the people. Modi is in power; obviously that means he will misuse the government machinery to his advantage.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reached out to INDIA leaders on Sunday afternoon and called for a meeting on December 6. His action will take care of some confusion gripping the minds of constituents. It is encouraging that NCP chief, veteran Sharad Pawar has welcomed it saying: “I do not think it (Congress’s performance) will have any impact on the INDIA bloc. We will be meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi (on December 6). We will speak to those who are aware of the ground reality. We will be able to comment on it only after the meeting.”

Still time is left for Rahul to strike back. He must ensure that the party does not appear to be a bunch of leaders nursing divergent views and treating it as a pocket borough. In Rajasthan, the dithering in resolving the feud between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot was responsible for losing the state to BJP. If at all the party is serious to hand over a defeat to Modi in 2024, a clear and specific message ought to be sent to the leaders, down to the district level, that the leaders must not display any signs of Big Brother Syndrome.

Rahul must make it public that strongest party should be leading the fight against the BJP in its own state. The AAP leadership was right in its observation that the results are not reflective of the mood of the nation. Already RJD parliamentarian Manoj Jha has said: “Leaders like our national president Lalu Prasad and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar have acknowledged that among all partners in the INDIA coalition, the Congress has the largest footprint. But now, the ball is in the Congress’s court. It ought to realise that Narendra Modi’s conceit cannot be fought with conceit.”

Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) is correct in his observation that Congress should revisit its outlook towards allies. He however was confident that Sunday’s election results would not cause any rift among the INDIA constituents. It is encouraging that CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury has also echoed the same view: “These election results underline the need for the secular forces to redouble their efforts in defence of people’s livelihood and the secular democratic character of the Indian republic.”

Of course, Mamata and some other regional leaders will in the changed situation will push further for the so-called 1:1 formula — having only one INDIA candidate in every Lok Sabha seat with the highest winnability. (IPA Service)