When we talk about the rise and continued sway of the saffron sentiment in national politics, it’s natural to think who is on the margins. With only 35 Muslim candidates winning in the 2019 general elections, their number this time will be another exciting thing to watch out for. BJP’s call for a Congress-mukt India may extend now to a Muslim-mukt parliament. Let’s hope India doesn’t come to this pass and the new parliament has a sizable number of representatives from all communities and classes, especially from the Muslims, the largest minority group.

After the recently concluded state assembly elections, BJP has appointed young leaders as Chief Ministers in three key states – Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Removing old horses from mainstream politics in these states can help the BJP offer new narratives to the people. That such an exercise makes the position of top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, fortified is not entirely valid.

With Ram temple in Ayodhya a reality, much of the Hindi heartland is arguably already won over. BJP may be fine there. Besides, the party is more effective in event management and campaigning than opposition camp leaders and parties. There doesn’t seem to be any real challenge for BJP in the upcoming elections.

There are attempts to create a coalition of opposition parties to take on the BJP and its allies unitedly. But the problem they would face, as in the past, is the pan-India presence of cadres who follow the command from a single source, as in the case of RSS and BJP. The organizational power of these two outfits is something that the opposition has not been able to successfully counter.

The left parties used to have a strong force of political workers, but these parties have been on the wane, not just in India but globally. The far right is getting stronger everywhere in the world. The histories of the two world wars teach us this is a dangerous development. Given this, even if the BJP and its allies win the elections, they should desist from pursuing far-right policies.

Before the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, North-East and Jammu & Kashmir were two chronically trouble spots within India. Over the years, BJP has gained political acceptance in the North-East states, and it’s in power in all states, barring Mizoram. Jammu and Kashmir is said to be witnessing some breakthroughs from its painful past marked by militancy.

However, political stability must be capitalized on to solve common problems such as unemployment, poor healthcare, and emerging models of education which is expensive on the one hand and does not equip students with employable skills on the other. These areas need crack-teams and task-forces to get tangible results. In the upcoming elections, if the opposition can highlight these issues and make people believe they can solve them, it can work in favour of them.

But very few political leaders have the motivation left in them to launch a credible electoral fight. Being in public life can corrode credibility and dilute motivation over time. In this case, leaders lose motivation to promise big and fulfill them when they come to power. This is the case with the country’s most opposition leaders. This scenario will further help the Modi-Shah team to stage a trump over their opponents.

Are any surprises expected in the upcoming elections and its aftermath? Many leaders have got it to go down in history as Prime Minister of India for a brief period and perhaps they are waiting for such opportunity. For example, Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Pinarayi Vijayan, and Naveen Patnaik belong to this league. But we must accept some of them are more equal than others!

The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is travelling the country from North East to West in his Bharat Yatra. Already six days have passed. All along, huge enthusiasm has been witnessed to welcome the Yatris. Rahul’s Yatra focusing on the unemployment of the youth, the distress of the farmers as also campaign against hate atmosphere in the country have got big response. The Congress, the leader of the opposition alliance, has to translate this people’s response into voting against the ruling party BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Can the Congress do it in the context of all pervading propaganda by the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the inauguration of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on January 22. That is the moot issue deciding the fate of India. (IPA Service)