Cyclone Modi Hits Maharashtra, Haryana; Flattens Congress

This Sunday, another cyclone – cyclone Modi – hit Maharashtra and Haryana, causing more devastation than any other cyclone ever registered in the political circle. Cyclone Modi inflicted massive damage to every party that came in its way, especially the Congress.

In Maharashtra, the BJP and its allies won 123 seats out of 288, which is a massive gain of 75 seats. In Haryana, the BJP won 47 seats out of 90, which is an increase of unprecedented 43 seats. Notably, Congress was reduced to the third spot in both the states, winning just 42 and 15 seats in Maharashtra and Haryana, respectively.

In the last 25 years since entering into an alliance with Shiv Sena, the BJP had never contested elections in any of the 150 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. As a result, it did not have a strong organisational structure in these constituencies. In Haryana too, the party had similar constraints. In fact, BJP candidates had forfeited their deposits in 75 out of the 90 seats in 2009 election. Moreover, it did not have any strong local leader in either of the states. But cyclone Modi propelled the BJP to majority in Haryana and made it the single-largest party in Maharashtra. Hence, it won’t be an exaggeration to attribute this performance solely to the Modi cyclone, just like it happened way back during the days of Indira Gandhi, when people, influenced by her charismatic personality, used to cast their votes in her name.

Apart from the face value of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the backroom strategy of BJP chief Amit Shah, too, played a crucial role, especially in Haryana. The consolidation of non-Jat votes contributed immensely in the victory, where Shah deputed Dalit MPs to spend days and nights in Dalit bastis. He himself campaigned extensively in the state, especially in the eastern region, where BJP won most of the seats.

In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena, which broke up with the BJP last month, emerged as the second-largest party by winning 63 seats. Fearing marginalisation after NCP’s offer of unconditional support to the BJP, Shiv Sena is now talking about forgetting the past and working together with its former ally. The Hyderabad-based Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), too, sprung a surprise, winning two seats on its debut. On the other hand, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was fully decimated and it could barely manage to open its account by winning just a single seat.

Whatever the critics have said in the past can be put to rest now. Modi is here to stay and the people are speaking, rather voting for him. With more states under the BJP government, the Modi-run central and state governments can quickly table reforms and policies. There are three more state elections in lurks starting with Delhi. Chances are high that the BJP government will clean sweep the next state election wave as well.