Overdrive?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone into overdrive in its quest for a third term in power. It seems to be unmindful of the danger of an overkill if a political party, however invincible it may seem, plans and does everything too early, too carefully and too professionally. The BJP and its supporters assert that 2024 is a ‘done deal’. But they ought to realise that India’s political diversity and a host of factors are what influence the electorate, making it difficult to predict the electoral outcome. Large sections of the media are ‘pro-BJP ‘for whatever reason and present a very one-sided picture of the pre-election scene.
It is to state the obvious that the BJP owes its political dominance to the overarching appeal of Hindutva subsuming caste distinctions, its (and its ideological parent, the RSS’s) organisational strength and also money power. It is indeed welcome if the omission of certain names in the first list of candidates marks a shift away from hardline Hindutva (Page 1, “BJP’s first list is out; PM keeps Varanasi”, March 3).
