ArpitGarg's Weblog

Let me admit at the onset, I would have liked if Modi would have won Bihar. Comeback of Lalu’s dynasty and corruption never felt right. I liked Nitish standalone but taint of Lalu is too much for me. But now that Nitish-Lalu has won Bihar big time, it has left Modi a lot to ponder.

Of Late, a lot of Modi supporters have grown disenchanted with him. Similar thing happened with Kejriwal also. Modi and Kejriwal both came with lots of promises and shook the rotten foundations. They promised us the moon. We fell for it and not just supported them, but also became their torch bearers. I believe same was the case with Bihar public.

People who voted for BJP big time during general elections, rejected them bigger. Why? This can be because people wanted to ‘sabak sikhana’ (teach a lesson) to Modi. 18 months have seen a lot of rhetoric and not much perceptive action. All through elections never once Modi admitted that he has not been able to do what he promised. Had he admitted and pleaded for more time, maybe the results would have been different. But he kept riding on a high horse all through the campaign.

Modi’s campaign was just as it was in 2014. He kept giving ‘Gyan’. What he forgot was 2014 was more a referendum on Congress’s corruption and less on Modi. People felt, ‘Ded saal pehle aaya, gyan deke vote le gaya. Kuch kiya dhara nahin. Phir se gyan dene aa gaya. Isko sabak sikhana hoga’ (He came, preached 1.5 years back for votes. Did nothing all this while. Came again asking for votes. We will teach him a lesson).

Zero poll promises fulfilled from 2014 elections. Vadra is roaming free. Remember Modi chest thumping on Vadra. People felt that Modi is another thug of a politician. Sir, please put Vadra in jail, rather than keeping the trump card for next elections. Prosperity didn’t come as promised. Jobs weren’t created. Although common man don’t have problem as such if BJP imposes RSS ideology in education and otherwise. But it felt as if BJP wanted to do nothing else. Common man don’t care if BJP demonizes Nehru, but it felt as if BJP wanted to do nothing else.

People voted Modi for development. Modi should have fulfilled some promises before coming back with more promises. Middle class was lost by higher train price, higher service tax, higher dal prices, and no bumper tax sops. It was as if voters were being punished for their faith. Voters in turn decided to punish him back. I don’t think intolerance debate did much harm to Modi. It is just for TV studios. What harmed him was lack of action.

Loyalty to Modi is not Caste based. Caste loyalty is very strong. Not the case with Modi. People decided to discard Modi and go back with the caste. It’s high time, Modi corrected course and did something perceptive. He should start acting on his 2014 poll promises before making more promises. Warna UP mein bhi sabak seekhna padega.