Mahabharat Continues: Pandvas are euphoric, Kauravas delirious

March 11, 2017 will go down in the history of democratic India as an epoch marking day. It is on this eventful day that the results of  elections for  Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur were declared (See Reference 1). The voting for elections for these five states had been carried out in a number of phases over  a long span of 34 days starting 4th February, 2017 and ending 9th March, 2017.

In order to appreciate the import of these results, it is necessary to review the performance of various contenders in the subject elections vis-a-vis their performance in the the previous elections. To facilitate this exercise, the results of elections from  2002 to 2017 have been tabulated below. The tables show the number of seats won by the main players in the various election years.

    1. Uttar Pradesh:

Party	2002	2007	2012	2017
BJP	88	51	47	312
SP	143	97	224	47
BSP	98	206	80	19
INC	25	22	28	7

• In the elections before 2017, BJP had been kept at bay by the chakravyuha of  casteist and 'secular' politics constructed by BSP and SP, jointly and severally. BJP was virtually banished to wilderness as it was not able to find an 'Arjuna' who knew the art and craft of penetrating that formation. 
• But in the campaign for 2017 elections, Modi and Amit Shah appear to have been able to decode the intrigue.They seem to have struck a chord with the people of Uttar Pradesh and were successful in exhorting them to rise and speak in one voice against the sacrifice of development and good governance at the altar of populism and politics of appeasement.
• In 2017, the people of Uttar Pradesh have obliged Modi, Shah and BJP. They have spoken very decisively. They have inflicted a double whammy on  INC, SP and BSP. On the one hand, they handed these parties their worst drubbing at the hustings, on the other hand they gave BJP an unprecedented and even unexpectedly huge mandate.

      2. Uttarakhand:

Party	2002	2007	2012	2017
BJP	19	34	31	57
INC	36	21	32	11
Others	15	15	3	7

• The elections of 2007 had afforded BJP a taste of the power of ruling Uttarakhand. However, in 2012, BJP had to cede the ground to INC by the thinnest of margins. In midterm in 2016, it made an attempt to capitalize on the fissure in INC where in 9 MLAs revolted against the incumbent Chief Minister. In the queer legislative imbroglio that ensued, the central government clamped President's rule. This rule proved short-lived and lasted only about 45 days (27th March to 12th May, 2016). The disqualification of 9 MLAs did not help matters for BJP. INC rule was restored.

• In 2017, very much like their UP counterparts, the people of Uttarakhand have also made INC to make an inglorious exit. They have inflicted a very heavy defeat on INC and vehemently rejected the incumbent government. They gave BJP an unassailable and unprecedented majority-80% of the seats.

    3. Manipur:

Party	2002	2007	2012	2017
INC	20	30	42	28
BJP	4	0	0	21
Others	36	30	18

• Hitherto, North East was virtually a no-no for BJP in spite of its debut in 2002. But BJP's stock is rising very fast in North East too. It wrested Assam from INC just a while ago.

• In 2017, BJP has outdone itself in Manipur. Though it won fewer seats than INC, it was able to garner support from non-INC parties and was able to form a government. BJP-led government is now firmly in the saddle having comfortably sailed through the floor test in the assembly to prove its majority

    4. Goa:  

Party	2002	2007	2012	2017
BJP	17	14	21	13
INC	16	16	9	17
Others	7	10	10	10

• The results of subject elections of 2017 had initially spelt  doom for BJP  It had recorded its worst performance in Goa till date. The alliance partners had gone their separate ways; Manohar Parrikar was out of the scene having gone to Delhi to do national duty as Defence Minster. The people of Goa showed their unhappiness with the incumbent Parrikar-less BJP dispensation with the result that the incumbent Chief Minister and a number of ministers suffered defeat.
• But BJP exhibited remarkable resilience. It rose like phoenix and acted with speed of light. It sought and managed to secure support from not only from its erstwhile ally MGP but also from GFP. With the letters of support in its hand, BJP leapt forward to lay its claim to form the government. It has since successfully passed the floor test too. INC has been left sulking and licking its wounds. Some INC heads may roll. 

    5. Punjab:

Party	2002	2007	2012	2017
SAD +BJP	44	67	58	18
INC	62	44	46	77
Others	11	6	3	22

• BJP was well nigh aware that very much like the people of Uttar Pradesh, the people of Punjab will also speak and speak loudly and clearly against the hegemonic rule of Badals. In spite of the knowledge that alliance with SAD in Punjab will be deleterious to its interests, BJP did not sever its ties with SAD. What gives here, will need further exploration and elaboration. However, that at a later date.

At the end of it all, in summing up the election results, it comes as no surprise that Pandavas ( BJP) is euphoric and  Kauravas (INC, SP and BSP ) are delirious.

Some of the reactions of the losers and their sympathizers are outrageously ridiculous. Mayawati has gone to the extent of saying that every Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) used in UP elections was rigged. According to her, each machine was so programmed that irrespective of what button was pressed, every vote got cast in favour of BJP. (See Reference 2). According to her EVM just means 'Everyone Voted Modi'. 

Immediately after seeing the results, even I, who is  politically naive, had remarked that the losers will term EVM as "Every Vote for Modi" device. The irony of the situation is that people who pretend to be the guardians of democracy, protectors of secularism and epitomes of honesty have joined the chorus. The perpetual cry-baby Arvind Kejriwal and king-jester Laloo Yadav are not the ones to miss any opportunity of BJP-bashing. They conveniently forget that the same EVMs helped them comprehensively defeat Modi in Delhi and Bihar. I wonder at the Indian electronic media which is ever ready to rake up or invent controversy after controversy to keep up their viewership and promote and perpetuate leftist agenda against the (rightist) BJP

Another shameless statement came from Digvijay Singh, the Raja-turned-serf who frequently goes over-board in denigrating Modi and BJP  to ostentate his loyalty to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. This INC General Secretary had the audacity to declare publicly on all electronic media that if he had money at his disposal, he would have been able to buy enough legislators to ensure formation of INC government in Goa. I wonder why Election Commission should not take suo moto notice of this statement and initiate legal action against him.

INC and other opponents of BJP and Modi raised a lot of hue and cry against the actions of Governors of Goa and Manipur but to no avail as the petitions drafted by legal luminaries of INC including the likes of Abhishek Manu Singhvi  were dismissed by Supreme Court.

While INC, SP, BSP and others are still smarting from  injury caused by results of elections and the insult inflicted by the repulsion of their legal offensives, BJP has gone ahead and appointed Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Not only the opponents of Modi, BJP and RSS are aghast, but also many a  saffron partisan are flummoxed by this move.

The first though that came to my mind was that Yogi Adityanath is being  perceived as the latter day Abhimanyu who has the in-born natural talent to raid and penetrate the chakravyuh. Perhaps it is believed that this modern Abhimanyu possesses the temperament like the original but unlike him has time on his side to learn and augment his half-knowledge to make it complete and thus metamorphose into Arjuna in  due course.

Immediately, the second thought that replaced the first one was that this appointment of Yogi Adityanath was equivalent to the deployment of 'Ghatotkach' ( see Reference 3) in Mahabharat. In physical appearance, Yogi Adityanath  may look like a micro version of the fabled warrior but he may as well be able to conjure up latent powers to expand and enlarge at will. He is certainly capable of breathing fire which can roast his adversaries alive.  Where are the Kauravas going to find the 'Vasvi Shakti or Amoghastra' to thwart and neutralize him?

Yogi's likeness or lack of it to Abhimanyu or Ghatotkach being immaterial, by appointing Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of UP, BJP has undoubtedly blown its conch for the next battle. The action is deliberately designed to  terrorise and demoralize the opponents. They will be kept  on tenterhooks and will be hard pressed to hurry up to reset their strategies and plans. The action also gives BJP's own army a reason  to remain battle ready and fighting fit.

Mahabharat continues. We shall wait till the result of the next battle to find out who will be euphoric and who will be delirious. 

References:
1. http://www.eciresults.nic.in/
2. http://www.timesnow.tv/state-elections-2017/video/mayawati-blames-tampering-of-evms-for-bsps-poor-performance/57390
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghatotkacha