The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– Mar 11, 2022; Day 252

The winning formula: On the polarisation (the act of dividing something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, into two completely opposing groups:) politics of BJP

Mobilisation on caste and regional identities was no match for the communal polarisation politics of the BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained power in all the four States it held, of the five that went to the polls between February 10 and March 7, while the Congress lost the only one it had, Punjab, to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The BJP overcame the fatigue (Temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work) and popular disenchantment (Disappointment on finding out that something is not as good as hoped, or that previous beliefs were false) it had accumulated over five years in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur, while the Congress collapsed in Punjab. The popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who remained the central figure of the BJP campaign, contributed significantly to the party’s victory; for the Congress, the leadership of the Gandhi family has become more of a burden going by its moves ahead of the elections that contributed directly to the party’s Punjab debacle. The resounding victory of AAP in Punjab opens new possibilities for the emergence of a national alternative to the BJP, but, at the moment, the latter’s electoral appeal appears unassailable (Without flaws or loopholes). A combination of identity appeals, welfare promises, and strongman rhetoric (Using language effectively to please or persuade) helped the winners — the BJP in four States, and AAP in Punjab. The potency of a caste-oriented social justice plank as a mobilisation strategy is at a low ebb (in a weakened or depressed state) as the collapse of its Samajwadi Party (SP) version in U.P. and the Congress version in Punjab shows. Dynastic politics can be taken as having received a definitive drubbing (A sound defeat) — the leadership of many of the parties on the losing side are controlled by families over generations — the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Mr. Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal were quite possibly seen by their supporters as subaltern (a person holding a subordinate position) raiders of elite citadels (A stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle).

The U.P. Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, has risen as a formidable vote catcher for the BJP in the Hindi heartland. His brushes with controversies only add to his popularity, the results suggest, and a new Modi-Yogi iteration of Hindutva politics has reinforced the BJP in U.P. The voters had appeared anguished with inflation, stray cattle menace, poor COVID-19 management, and unemployment, but not enough to vote out the BJP government. A protracted (Relatively long in duration) agitation of farmers had minimal impact on the polls, as the BJP won many seats in its epicentre of west U.P. It appears that the non-Jat and non-Muslim votes considerably consolidated behind the BJP in the face of the aggressive campaign of the SP-RLD alliance. Several backward caste leaders switched from the BJP tent to the SP camp, but ordinary voters did not follow them to an extent that could have threatened the BJP. The SP more than doubled its tally of 2017 but it still fell short. It could not wash off its image of being a party that provides protection to criminals and favours Yadavs and Muslims. The election saw a decimation of the Bahujan Samaj Party, helping the BJP more than the SP. The Congress only helped in creating an atmosphere for the SP alliance, and barely opened its account.

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