INDIAN voters defied projections of exit polls which suggested an overwhelming victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, as the election results show the party will have a reduced parliamentary strength with implications for implementation of its agenda on its own. The main opposition party – Congress – which has almost doubled its parliamentary seats claimed that the Indian voters punished Modi by depriving him of the majority he wanted to get in elections to continue his extremist policies that have dented the global image of a country that claims to be the largest democracy and a secular state.
The outcome of the election is rightly called as a moral defeat for a leader who built his narrative around Hindutva ideology seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and Hinduism within India, reducing minorities, especially Muslims, to the status of a second rate citizens. Modi also based his election campaign on anti-Muslim rhetoric and Pakistan-bashing to woo Hindus votes but these tactics failed to improve his image and instead dented his popularity. He went to the extent of making several strident comments about Muslims on the campaign trail, referring to them as “infiltrators” and claimed the main opposition Congress Party would redistribute the nation’s wealth to Muslims if it won. He also fabricated politically motivated cases against his political opponents, sending many of them behind bars but the Opposition succeeded in countering effectively the BJP’s well-oiled and well-funded campaign machine. Referring to Modi’s failure to achieve a landslide victory, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi asserted “The country has unanimously and clearly expressed, we do not want Narendra Modi and Amit Shah (Modi’s powerful number two) to be involved in the running of this country, we do not like the way they have run this country.” No doubt, the reduced parliamentary strength means the BJP will not have a smooth sailing as before and will be dependent on allies but still his victory does not augur well for marginalized communities as another tenure for an extremist party means uncertainty about their future in India. This is particularly so for Muslims, who were publicly targeted, abused and humiliated during the last ten years and there are apprehensions this trend would increase. Modi could not dare field his candidates in Occupied Kashmir fearing backlash for what he did to the region and its people during his tenure but his victory might bring more misery to Kashmiris as he has a track record of taking unilateral measures to advance his nefarious agenda.
