New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) In a speech that was turned into a “victory speech” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he left little to imagination at the BJP headquarters on Thursday.
The Prime Minister showering praise on Manohar Lal Khattar leaves little doubt that the BJP will stake claim to make him the Chief Minister of Haryana again.
But the overarching theme of a relatively short speech by Modi has been making a contrast between and after 2014, when he came on to the national scene.
“We could hardly contest in any seat in Haryana earlier. We used to play second fiddle. How many seats did BJP fight and which constituencies were determined by our alliance partner pre-2014? If we would win 10 seats, it would be our good fortune,” Modi said.
He also highlighted how the BJP before 2014 played the role of “smaller partner” to Shiv Sena. But ever since 2014, things have changed for the BJP, said Modi. It was a clear demarcation of the BJP before Modi, and the BJP after Modi. Never has he made such a claim as brazenly as on Thursday.
Just hours before that, BJP President Amit Shah tweeted: “In the last five years, the Khattar government under Modi’s central leadership made every effort for the welfare of the people of Haryana. I congratulate the public for making BJP the largest party and giving it a chance to serve again.”
It was a not-so-subtle statement that BJP will stake claim to form government in a state where numbers don’t allow it to form the government on its own. When Modi talked about Modi after 2014, he was referring to this attitude of a more aggressive party that didn’t concede defeat even in face of defeat.
“We have started Modi 2.0 with two wins,” announced Shah as a relaxed Modi smiled, defying any presumption of tension.
Though the crowd at the BJP headquarters was not as huge as the one after the 2019 general election victory, the message was communicated by Modi and Shah: This is Modi’s BJP and its different.
Congress Dismisses BJP’s Victory Claims
Asserting that the poll verdict a moral defeat of the BJP and what it stands for, Congress’ senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said BJP chief Amit Shah’s claim of victory in Haryana does not hold as the party is short of a majority and there is a significant drop in its vote percentage merely four months after the Lok Sabha election victory.
Claiming that the verdict of Haryana is against the BJP, he said all parties opposing the BJP must come together as has been appealed by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
“We accept the verdict of the people with humility. This verdict is a moral defeat for the BJP and what they stand for,” he told reporters at a press conference.
In Haryana, the Congress, which failed to bag even one seat in the Lok Sabha polls, won or was ahead in 31 of the 90 seats at stake compared to its previous tally of 15. The BJP, which had 47 seats in the outgoing 90-member house, won or was ahead in 40 seats. The half-way mark is 46.
The verdict came as a surprise as most of the exit polls predicted a significantly higher tally for the BJP in the two states.
‘Defeat of Jingoism,’ says Left
Reacting to the Assembly election results, Left parties said jingoism does not work when people are living in misery.
Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) General Secretary”The results, not just in these two states but also in bypolls in Gujarat, Bihar and Kerala show that communal jingoism does not work at a time when the people are in misery over lack of jobs and economic slowdown,”
CPI general secretary D Raja said that the election results in the two states was a clear indication that this was the beginning of the fall of the BJP.
BJP president Amit Shah indicated that his party will stake claim to form the next government in Haryana after the assembly election results threw up a hung verdict.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is in ED custody in a corruption case, said in a tweet that party workers must believe that the BJP can be defeated in elections as calm and quiet patriotism can defeat muscular nationalism.
Miracles can happen if people shed their fear, he further tweeted. He said he has asked his family to tweet on his behalf.
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