A narrative of nationalism and communalism can’t work always for the BJP and Thursday’s results signal the beginning of the BJP’s decline, the Left parties asserted while reacting to the Assembly election results in Maharashtra and Haryana, where the BJP’s performance was well short of its target.
“The communal-nationalist agenda on which they had built the narrative for 2019 elections is breaking down,” said CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury. “The results show that communal jingoism can not work all the time. This was reflected first in the low turnout in these elections. In Maharashtra, they gave a call for 200 plus and in Haryana they said that they will get 75 plus. The results are for everyone to see,” he added.
The BJP’s anti-Left campaign on Sabarimala also failed, Mr. Yechury said, citing the bypoll results from Kerala. The CPI(M) wrested the Konni and Vattiyoorkavu seats from the Congress, while the BJP’s vote share fell in both the constituencies. The Konni Assembly segment falls on the way to the Sabarimala shrine. Both the seats are dominated by upper castes who led the protest against the Left government on the Sabarimala entry issue. “Their narrative on Sabarimala also didn’t work,” Mr. Yechury said.
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”.
“The people have given them a verdict that they cannot be taken for granted,” Mr. Raja said. “They have told the BJP what the real issues are — unemployment, fall of the rupee, rise in prices and livelihood issues — not NRC or Article 370, on which the BJP’s election campaign was based. This is the beginning of the fall of the BJP. In the coming days they will be completely exposed,” he asserted.
