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The Metamorphosis of Arvind Kejriwal: From calling Narendra Modi a psychopath, he hasn’t attacked the PM once on Twitter since 2019 results

OpIndia Staff
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The Metamorphosis of Arvind Kejriwal: From calling Narendra Modi a psychopath, he hasn’t attacked the PM once on Twitter since 2019 results

Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has undergone a huge transformation since he was elected as the Chief Minister of Delhi in 2016. His devotion towards RamBhakt Hanuman, which was apparent from his recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa on national television a few days prior to the 2020 Assembly Elections, is not the only change that has manifested in the politician. Since Narendra Modi’s reelection as Prime Minister, Arvind Kejriwal has not attempted to insult him even once through his account on Twitter.

In fact, the only time Arvind Kejriwal has mentioned Narendra Modi’s name on Twitter since the 23rd of May, 2019 apart from the congratulatory message was during the run-up to the Delhi elections when he hit out at Pakistani Minister Choudhary Fawad Hussain for his comments on the Prime Minister.


Such behaviour is a far cry from the time when Arvind Kejriwal had called Narendra Modi a coward and a psychopath on the social media platform in December 2015.

Kejriwal’s psychopath tweet

Even during the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections when every regional leader aspired to sit on the Prime Minister’s chair, Arvind Kejriwal had launched vicious attacks on Narendra Modi. However, when all of it fell flat and Narendra Modi was re-elected to power with an even greater majority than in 2014, the AAP supremo made a calculated effort to disassociated himself anti-Modi rhetoric.

Arvind Kejriwal’s anti-Modi tweets

In effect, during the Delhi Assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal did all that he could to avoid a direct confrontation with Narendra Modi because he realized it isn’t a battle he could win. After his suggestion that Pakistan and Imran Khan were helping Narendra Modi win the Lok Sabha Elections and that Narendra Modi represented Nathuram Godse’s ideology did not work and the Delhi electorate gifted Narendra Modi more than 55% of its votes, Arvind Kejriwal was smart enough to recognize that personal attacks against the Prime Minister was a losing strategy for Assembly Elections and immediately changed track.

Along with that, Arvind Kejriwal has refrained from attacking the BJP on national narratives and stuck to campaigning on entirely local issues. While the BJP campaigned on Shaheen Bagh and nationalism, Arvind Kejriwal refrained from associating himself with the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and allowed the BJP to win the battle on narrative uncontested. He did so because he was perfectly aware that he would lose spectacularly if he played the game on BJP’s points.

It is for this reason that even Radical Muslims are mighty upset with Arvind Kejriwal and feel betrayed for his lack of support towards the crowd at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia. He left it for Amanatullah Khan to ensure that the possibility of a vote split among the Muslim community between the AAP and Congress did not materialize while he went around chanting the Hanuman Chalisa and demonstrating his Hanuman Bhakti. The Radical Muslims were also angry when Arvind Kejriwal recited the Hanuman Chalisa on national television but he paid them no heed.

Arvind Kejriwal played the game smartly and the Delhi electorate has rewarded him with a massive victory in the Delhi elections. He has also cemented his places as the leader of a regional party along the lines of Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Akhilesh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh but within a much smaller territory which has significantly less autonomy.

Rajdeep Sardesai dances with psephologist Pradeep Gupta on air as AAP wins Delhi elections

OpIndia Staff
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Rajdeep Sardesai dances with psephologist Pradeep Gupta on air as AAP wins Delhi elections

With Delhi Assembly elections results coming in, it looks likely that Delhi has decided to give a clear mandate to Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party.

While the secular ‘camp’ has already started rejoicing, ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai looked particularly ecstatic as seen in the India Today studio, breaking into a jig with Axis MyIndia’s chief Pradeep Gupta, on the popular Bollywood track ‘Baadshah’. The duo was presumably celebrating getting the exit poll “bang on”.


The celebrity Television journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, who had once disabled his Twiter account alleging of becoming a victim of constant abuse on the microblogging site, was himself seen abusing a Twitter user for calling out his hypocrisy.

The Twitter user going by the Twitter handle @Ya_2317 had dared to point out how the members of this ‘secular’ camp who have been rejoicing AAP’s victory had blatantly called media outlets like Republic TV and Zee News Modi’s stooge during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This irked the ‘neutral journalist’, Rajdeep Sardesai who wrote: Don’t be a bloody idiot. We celebrated in the studio when we got Lok Sabha right too: @PradeepGuptaAMI even broke down in studio. We are celebrating our exit poll being bang on. Had we got it wrong, you folks would have crucified us. Now chill..


Pradeep Gupta’s India Today-Axis MyIndia exit polls had predicted a landslide victory for the AAP with 59-68 seats in the 70 member Delhi Assembly.

Moreover, exit polls conducted by Republic-Jan Ki Baat, Neta-NewsX, ABP News-C Voter and TV9 Bharatvarsh-CICERO had predicted AAP winning more than 50 seats in the 70-member assembly, down from existing 67 but still a huge victory. The polls by Sudarshan News and Times Now-IPSOS predicted numbers below 50 but above 40 for the Aam Aadmi Party. All the polls had predicted that BJP will increase tally from 3 to around 20.

According to the trends AAP has been leading from most of the Muslim dominated areas in Delhi. While, Amanatullah Khan, the most prominent Muslim leader from the Aam Aadmi Party, has won a resounding victory from his own seat at Okhla, in Seelampur, AAP candidate Abdul Rehman triumphed over BJP’s Kaushal Mishra. This shows that the Muslim vote has consolidated massively in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Maharashtra: Congress magazine ‘Shidori’ mocks Veer Savarkar, calls him ‘maafiveer’

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Congress magazine ‘Shidori’ mocks Veer Savarkar, calls him ‘maafiveer’

In the February edition of the Congress’ Marathi newspaper, Shidori, the party had published two articles belittling freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. One-piece was titled “Swatantryaveer Navhe, Mafiveer” (Not a freedom fighter but an apologist), while the other was named “Andharatil Savarkar” (The unknown aspects of Savarkar).

The first article relied upon another report published in the Marathi magazine, Samya Yoga Sadhana, which concluded that Veer Savarkar was not a freedom fighter but an apologiser. It was a dig at the mercy petition Veer Savarkar wrote to the British when he was lodged in cellular jail. The other article published in Congress magazine put out personal aspects of his life in the public domain that drew questions about the “character” of the freedom fighter.

As per reports, after the Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed, there was confusion within the party whether to carry articles targeting the freedom fighter. One of the Congress’ allies, Shiv Sena, has been a long advocate of awarding Savarkar, the Bharat Ratna (the highest civilian award). In the end, the articles were published by the magazine’s editor Ratnakar Mahajan after the intervention of the High Command.

Read: Here are the 5 most popular lies that leftists peddle against Veer Savarkar

Madhya Pradesh Congress Seva Dal released a book titled “Veer Savarkar Kitna Veer” (How brave was Savarkar?) where it was alleged that Veer Savarkar took money from the British, besides having physical relations with Nathuram Godse. The comments made in the book drew the ire of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had attacked Savarkar in a rally and said that he was not going to apologise for speaking “truth” since his name wasn’t “Rahul Savarkar.” Ironically, former PM Indira Gandhi called Savarkar, the remarkable son of India.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had then challenged the vocal opponents of the freedom fighter to spend two days in Andaman’s Cellular Jail to experience what Savarkar had gone through. On Monday, the BJP tried to corner Shiv Sena by putting forth a proposal in the Maharastra Assembly to acknowledge contributions of Veer Savarkar during the Independence struggle.

Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Delhi court sentences convicted NGO owner Brajesh Thakur, others to life imprisonment

OpIndia Staff
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Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Delhi court sentences convicted NGO owner Brajesh Thakur, others to life imprisonment

South Delhi’s Saket court sentenced NGO owner Brajesh Thakur, convicted in the Muzaffarpur sexual abuse case, to life imprisonment on Tuesday.


Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha sentenced Thakur to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. Thakur was convicted of sexually and physically assaulting several minor girls at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

Thakur has also been fined Rs 20 lakhs, other accused named Ravi Roshan, Vikas Kumar and Guddu have also been sentenced to life imprisonment and a monetary fine. 6 others have been sentenced to life too.

The same POCSO court had on January 20, 2020, convicted the former Bihar People’s Party (BPP) MLA Brajesh Thakur and 18 others of several offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of the POCSO Act, and offences of rape and gang rape under the Indian Penal code (IPC).

Other convicts in the case include Indu Kumari (Principal), Meenu Devi (house mother), Manju Devi (counsellor), Chanda Devi (house mother), Neha Kumari (nurse), Kiran Kumari (helper), Hema Masih (PO), Ravi Roshan (Child Protection Officer), Vikas Kumar (CWC), Roji Rani, Vijay Tiwari (Brijesh’ driver), Guddu Kumar (shelter home staff), Krishna Kumar (shelter home staff), Ramanuj Thakur (shelter home staff), Shajista Parveen (Brijesh’ associate), Ashwini Kumar (a doctor), Dilip Kumar (CWC chairman) and Ramashankar Singh.

Another accused Premila is still absconding. Shajista’s nephew Vikki alias Mohammad Sahil was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Brijesh Thakur was moved from Bihar’s Bhagalpur jail to Patiala high-security jail in Punjab following the Supreme court order on October 30, 2018. He was found violating jail norms in Bhagalpur.

The shocking incident of Muzaffarpur shelter home came to light in June 2018 when the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) submitted a report, based on conversations with several girls at the home.

The shelter home was housing the girls between the ages of 7 to 17 and many of the girls were suffering from speech-impairment. It was reported that they were given sedatives in the dinner and raped during the night and the inmates were brutally beaten regularly by the shelter home staff, including women and compelled the girls to have sex with the visitors.

Over 42 girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at a shelter home named Balika Grih in Muzaffarpur, run by Brajesh Thakur, the chief of a state-funded NGO called Seva Sankalp Evam Vikash Samiti.

An FIR was lodged against 11 people, including Thakur, on May 31. The probe was later taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It also later revealed that ex-minister Manju Verma’s husband had links with accused Brajesh Thakur.

As early trends started pouring in, Delhi BJP put up poster accepting defeat gracefully

OpIndia Staff
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As early trends started pouring in, Delhi BJP put up poster accepting defeat gracefully

After the earlier trends on Tuesday indicated a clean sweep in Delhi Election by Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP put up a poster outside Delhi’s BJP office with an undefined message outside the Delhi BJP office. Written in Hindi, the poster carried a message saying, “Victory doesn’t make us egoistic, and defeat doesn’t disappoint us”. As reported by Hindustan Times the text was posted along with the picture of union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Just after polling ended, most of the exit polls predicted a clean sweep by the Aam Aadmi Party. The BJP, however, had rejected the exit polls and said maintained that they were confident of forming a government in Delhi. However, the earlier trends on Tuesday indicated the exit polls predicted correctly.

The Aam Aadmi Party is leading on 62 seats and BJP on 8, while Congress has not even opened its account. The vote share percentage of the Aam Aadmi Party is 53.5% while BJP has got an impressive 39% vote percentage according to the election commission website.

The senior ministers and the heavyweights of BJP left no stone unturned to influence the voters mainly hailing from the middle class who are affected by roadblocks due to Mass protests in Shaheen Bagh.

The Aam Aadmi Party noted a massive win in 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections grabbing 67 seats out of 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly while BJP got 3 seats.

The polling for the Delhi Assembly Election 2020 was held on 8 February in all the 70 Delhi assemblies. The Aam Aadmi Party contested 70 seats while BJP on 67 leaving 2 seats for its ally Janata Dal-United and 1 for Lok Janshakti Party.

“Seedhi baat hai, Muslim poora polarise hua, Hindu ghanta hua”: Parliamentarians discuss Delhi elections and AAP’s victory

OpIndia Staff
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“Seedhi baat hai, Muslim poora polarise hua, Hindu ghanta hua”: Parliamentarians discuss Delhi elections and AAP’s victory

The much-awaited first result of Delhi elections 2020 is out and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party looks likely to return for its second consecutive term. With results still coming in, the ‘secular’ camp and the anti-Modi brigade have already started to celebrate.

Taking to Twitter, the political editor of The Hindu, Nistula Hebbar wrote that she overheard few parliamentarians discuss the Delhi Election results. According to Hebbar, who was there in the Parliament to cover the proceedings, few MPs opined, “Seedhi baat hai, Muslim poora polarise hua, Hindu ghanta hua.”!


According to the trends AAP has been leading from most of the Muslim dominated areas in Delhi. Amanatullah Khan, the most prominent Muslim leader from the Aam Aadmi Party, has won a resounding victory from his own seat at Okhla. He has won the constituency where Shaheen Bagh and Jamia are located by over ninety-one thousand votes.

Even so, the margin of victory is significant as in 2015, Amanatullah Khan won with a margin of sixty-five thousand votes. By the 16th round of counting, Amanatullah Khan had already secured more votes than he did the last time around. This shows that the Muslim vote has consolidated massively in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party.

It is noteworthy to mention that Shaheen Bagh comes under Okhla constituency where controversial Aam Aadmi Party member Amanatullah Khan has registered a victory.

Since December 15, 2019, protesters gathered at Shaheen Bagh and blocked one of the arterial roads in Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The protest site was accused of being an independent enclave where participation of people was regulated based on their political inclinations and past predispositions. It also witnessed anti-India and pro-Azaadi slogans being chanted by the demonstrators.

Read: Delhi Elections 2020: Muslim consolidation has won, here’s why Hindus should be concerned

In Seelampur, AAP candidate Abdul Rehman triumphed over BJP’s Kaushal Mishra. This was the first result to be declared. Last time around, the AAP candidate had secured 51.25% of the votes and the Congress candidate had won 21.28% of votes. This time around, the AAP’s vote share is likely to increase by multiple percentage points while that of the Congress party will fall as per current trends.

The riot-hit Seelampur is another constituency dominated by Muslims, which once again shows that the Muslims have consolidated massive in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party.

In the run-up to the Delhi Assembly polls, Muslim-dominated areas of Seelampur had seen unprecedented violence led by Muslim mobs to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

On the eve of the Delhi assembly elections, the mosques in the riot-hit Seelampur and Okhla have urged Muslims to vote in large numbers on Saturday, reported Hindustan Times. These are the very areas where Muslim mobs had gone on a rampage and caused riots as a result of their opposition to CAA. It is also worthy to note that Congress and AAP leaders were booked for the anti-CAA riots in these areas by Muslim mobs.

Amanatullah Khan: The Okhla MLA whose contribution to AAP’s victory which cannot be ignored

K Bhattacharjee
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Amanatullah Khan: The Okhla MLA whose contribution to AAP’s victory which cannot be ignored

A lot will be said about the results of the Delhi Assembly Elections. Some will say that Delhi has rejected BJP’s ‘divisive politics’, some will argue that Delhi has embraced the politics of communal harmony, some (for the nth time) will claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aura is fading and some will again declare that “Delhi feels like one big happy family this morning. Strangers smiling at each other, morning walkers hugging”.

However, there is one big takeaway from the results that cannot be missed and it will be extremely unfair to the man if his role in the Aam Aadmi Party’s stellar victory is ignored. That man, of course, is Amanatullah Khan. If there is one man who deserves great credit for solidifying the Muslim community behind AAP, the vote bank which was definitely greatly important for the AAP’s victory, it is Amanatullah Khan.

Ahead of the elections, there was great competition between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress for the Muslim vote which is extremely significant in Delhi. Amidst the violence unleashed by the Muslim mobs in the wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the support of the Muslim community became all the more important considering the fact that the BJP was bound to gain electorally to at least some extent.

Read: Delhi Elections 2020: Muslim consolidation has won, here’s why Hindus should be concerned

Under such circumstances, if there was one man who went out of his way to prove his loyalty to the Muslim community, it was Amanatullah Khan. Unfortunate as it may be, the campaign for winning the Muslim vote always seems to devolve into which party can align itself with the most radical sections of the community. And it wasn’t too different this time around.

While both parties schemed and plotted to win the Muslim vote, the Aam Aadmi Party’s strategy was much more comprehensive than that of the Congress. On one hand, there was Arvind Kejriwal who was busy chanting Hanuman Chalisa on national television. Then there was Sanjay Singh who advised the Shaheen Bagh protesters to introspect about their protests that were causing much disturbance to a great many citizens of Delhi. Then, of course, there was Amanatullah Khan who was spotted leading a violent riot against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the national capital.

Amanatullah Khan was also seen with Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh protests who had urged Muslims to cut off North East India from the rest of the country. Sharjeel Imam is now rotting in prison. An FIR was also registered by Ghaziabad Police against Khan for inciting violence through his social media posts. It is also alleged that Khan made an inflammatory speech before violence broke out at Jamia Milia on the 15th of December.

Thus, while the likes of Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh were busy pretending that their hands were all clean, it was Amanatullah Khan who was busy on the streets demonstrating his party’s unwavering loyalty towards the most radical sections of the Muslim community. If there was any significant vote split among the Muslim community, it would have greatly benefited the BJP. Under these circumstances, it was Khan who ensured that this did not happen.

Read: Delhi Election Results: While ‘secular’ camp celebrates today, they will be naive to think PM Modi’s national agenda would change

Amanatullah Khan’s victory from his own constituency was written in stone a long time ago. He contested from Okhla, the Muslim dominated constituency where Shaheen Bagh and Jamia, both, are located. The seat has never been won by a non-Muslim candidate. He had won from the same seat in 2015. Thus, his victory is not really surprising. His real task was ensuring that a significant vote-split did not occur.

In Mustafabad, another Muslim dominated constituency, the BJP had won in 2015 due to a vote split among Muslims between the Congress and the AAP. This time around, it was of paramount importance to ensure that such a vote split did not occur. Or the ramifications of it could have been disastrous for the party.

Of course, AAP’s strategy to garner the Muslim vote did not rest on Amanatullah Khan’s shoulders alone. And it had to be because the party received quite a stiff competition from the Congress party. Documents accessed by OpIndia showed that the Enforcement Directorate had discovered that the Shaheen Bagh protests are funded by the PFI and the chief of the Radical Islamic organizations was in constant touch with the leaders of both, the AAP and the Congress party.

In all of this, however, Amanatullah Khan had the single most important job, to establish beyond all doubt the AAP’s loyalty towards the Muslim vote base. And it certainly seems to have paid off. It was due to Amanatullah Khan that Manish Sisodia, after announcing his party’s support for the Shaheen Bagh protesters, could go on the offensive against the BJP demanding Sharjeel Imam’s arrest. It was because of Amanatullah Khan that Arvind Kejriwal could afford to be seen reciting the Hanuman Chalisa on national television without worrying about Muslim votes.

The only concern here for Arvind Kejriwal is that having won the elections riding on the back of Amanatullah Khan, it is only natural that the Muslim leader would demand a hefty reward. It remains to be seen what it is that Amanatullah Khan asks of Kejriwal and how low the Delhi Chief Minister will have to stoop in order to satisfy him.

Delhi Elections: NOTA polls more than Communist parties, manages to get only 0.03 percent of votes

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Elections: NOTA polls more than Communist parties, manages to get only 0.03 percent of votes

In a major embarrassment to left-parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) have only managed to get a vote share of 0.03 per cent in the Delhi Assembly results.

As per Election Commission data, the CPI is getting a vote share of 0.02 per cent and the CPM is getting a vote share of 0.01 per cent.

The vote share of Communist Parties (Election Commission).

Interestingly, the voters of Delhi have given more preference to NOTA or None Of The Above rather than voting for left-wing parties like CPI and CPM.

Meanwhile, AAP has managed to get a vote share of 53.54 per cent and the NDA is coming second with a vote share of 40 per cent. The Congress’ vote share has slumped to 4.29 per cent.

Islamists on Twitter ‘feel betrayed’, attack Arvind Kejriwal for not supporting Shaheen Bagh, Jamia rioters

OpIndia Staff
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Islamists on Twitter ‘feel betrayed’, attack Arvind Kejriwal for not supporting Shaheen Bagh, Jamia rioters

As the Delhi assembly elections result trends are hinting at a massive victory for Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital, some of the Islamists and constant Muslim-victimhood peddlers on social media are feeling let down by the Delhi chief minister for steering clear of issues like Shaheen Bagh protest and police action on Jamia Nagar rioters.

Several of the Islamists who have been hurt by Arvind Kejriwal’s stoic silence on Shaheen Bagh and Jamia took to Twitter to express their displeasure with the Aam Aadmi Party chief.

The anguish was displayed when the AAP chief tweeted expressing concern for the safety of the students of Gargi College, after the recent incident of molestations and harassment during a college event.

Irena Akbar, a former journalist with Indian Express and who had recently made a clarion call to fellow Muslims to boycott a Lucknow-based business because she did not like the political views of its owner, tweeted that she felt ‘betrayed’ that Kejriwal spoke on a host of issues such as Gargi college, JNU, Pakistani Sikhs but failed to utter a word for Jamia.

Akbar said that ‘despite the fact that Muslims supported the AAP,’ as she did in the 2014 general elections, he chose to keep mum on the issue of Jamia, implying the AAP government’s reluctance to vocally support the Muslim mob that went on a rampage in Jamia Nagar on December 15, and the subsequent police action to curb the riots.


Others too echoed this sense of dissatisfaction against the Delhi chief minister.


One Twitter user took a swipe at Kejriwal asking if he would speak up against police action in Jamia or does he need to secure LG’s permission before speaking on this issue.


Another Twitter user questioned Arvind Kejriwal on his silence on Jamia, asking if he is scared to speak anything on it or he is complicit in the action that was initiated against anti-CAA rioters in Jamia.


With Delhi assembly elections just around the corner, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had maintained an astute silence on the issues embroiling the national capital, especially concerning the violence that gripped Delhi in the wake of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Anti-CAA rioters ran riot in many parts of Delhi, especially in Jamia, when Delhi Police intervened and took corrective action against the protesters who were involved in stone-pelting, vandalism, arson and rioting.

Kejriwal also refrained from visiting Shaheen Bagh and avoided making an overtly approbatory remark for the sit-in protest that was carried out by the protesters against the CAA by blocking one of the busiest thoroughfares of Delhi for more than 55 days.

Delhi Election Results: While ‘secular’ camp celebrates today, they will be naive to think PM Modi’s national agenda would change

K Bhattacharjee
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Delhi Election Results: While ‘secular’ camp celebrates today, they will be naive to think PM Modi’s national agenda would change

The Delhi Assembly Election results are still pouring in. And by the looks of it, when all of this is over, it is the secular parties which will be celebrating at the end of the day. While it is indeed a cause for joy in the secular camp, it will be too much optimism for them to expect that Narendra Modi will suddenly change direction merely nine months into his second term.

The Bharatiya Janata Party contested the Delhi Elections on the back of the major decisions it has taken since coming back to power in May 2019. While a defeat is a defeat, it is certainly not a referendum on the path Narendra Modi has chosen to tread since reelection. For one, Delhi is merely a Union Territory and as such, it has only seven seats in the Lok Sabha. Moreover, there is nothing to suggest that the people of Delhi have suddenly developed an aversion towards Narendra Modi.

As much as the opposition parties would like to scream, the NDA government has only delivered on its manifesto promises till now. The abrogation of Article 370, the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens, the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, all of this is manifesto promises. Two of them have featured in every manifesto of the BJP since 1989. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Delhi electorate will suddenly abandon the party.

Read: Five Big Bang decisions of Modi Govt in 2019, how it laid the foundation for New India and marked The Dawn of a New Age

Furthermore, it also needs to be remembered that the pre-poll alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena had secured a majority in Maharashtra in 2019. The BJP has had to sit in opposition only because it was betrayed by its alliance partner. Therefore, it will be extremely unfair to count it as BJP’s defeat. Moreover, in Delhi, there was always a significant section of the electorate that preferred Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister. “Modi for PM, Kejriwal for CM,” was, in fact, a very popular slogan among the Delhi electorate.

Also, Narendra Modi still remains extremely popular as Prime Minister among the Delhi electorate. It should also be remembered that the AAP had managed to win 67 out of the 70 seats in Delhi Assembly merely a year after Narendra Modi stormed to power in 2014. Therefore, if AAP manages to repeat the feat in 2020, it will not be a verdict on Narendra Modi’s national agenda.

In his second term, Narendra Modi has made it clear that his primary focus is on resolving disputes and conflicts that have riddled the country ever since independence. Regardless of the Delhi results, it is extremely unlikely that he will swerve away from the path. The signing of the Bodo Accord, the settlement of the Bru Refugees in Tripura, these two steps primarily had very gains electorally for the BJP but in terms of the national narrative, these were extremely important steps. On the same note, while the secular camp might be in a celebratory mood today, the results will not affect the government’s stance on the NRC or the NPR. Neither will the Citizenship Amendment Act be withdrawn in any manner whatsoever.

Read: Bru people will be no longer refugees in their own country, historic agreement signed to permanently settle them in Tripura

During a recent speech at an NCC rally in Delhi, the Prime Minister provided some unique insights into what he sees as his duty. He had said, “If any disease continues for a long time, it becomes a part of the body. In our social life, this has happened. Several diseases had weakened our country in a way that most of its energy was being utilized to fight these problems.” And towards the end, he said that he was trying to solve these problems so that our future generations don’t have to face the same. He said that he is ready to face every criticism and slander that is thrown his way but he is not willing to keep the country mired in all these disputes.

Thus, it is extremely unlikely that Narendra Modi will back away from his national agenda due to an election defeat in a Union Territory the electorate of which is still firmly with him by every measure on his national agenda. Also, prior to the 2019 General Elections, the BJP had suffered three major defeats in the Assembly Elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. And yet, only a few months later, the same electorate had overwhelmingly voted for Narendra Modi in the national elections.

One thing that can be said safely is that the electorate has separated Narendra Modi from local issues, that is, while the is the overwhelming favourite candidate for Prime Minister, the electorate does not vote in state-level elections on the basis of his aura. Therefore, now it is incumbent upon the BJP to develop strong local leaders who can win elections on their own without relying solely upon the Prime Minister’s popularity. It doesn’t need to be said that the BJP didn’t have any such leader in Delhi.

In Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis could boast of a stellar performance during his tenure as Chief Minister. Therefore, the BJP was able to secure a majority in the Assembly with its pre-poll partner. In Haryana as well, the M.L. Khattar was able to retain his chair as the Chief Minister of the state. In Jharkhand, Raghubar Das lost the support of the masses and hence, he was booted out of power. It’s a familiar pattern that will be repeated more and more in the future.

Thus, while the secular camp is celebrating today, as it should, it would be naive of them to expect the BJP to take its feet off the matters of national import. Significant decisions of national importance will continue to be taken on a war footing, decades-old disputes will continue to be solved and just when liberals start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, their hopes may well come crashing down.

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