Modi in second stint as PM : From May 23 to May 30
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 31 2019 -

A famous victory it was, with the BJP alone notching up 303 seats in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.

So massive was the win that it turned out to be rather boring as there was no element of suspense on who would be the next Prime Minister or which front will form the next Government as soon as counting started.

It was something like a football match when a team is walloped 7-0 in a World Cup Football match, underlining the point that there was not much for the spectators to watch, after all nothing can be more boring than to watch such a one sided match.

It is wins like 4-3 or 5-4 or even 2-1 or the come from behind win or the tie breaker which add that extra bit of excitement to a match, especially when it is a big tournament like the FIFA World Cup.

The analogy has been drawn just to underline the point that the recently held Lok Sabha elections was a total wash out for the Congress and other regional players like the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The less said about the Left parties, the better it would be for it has been blanked out in practically all over the country.

This was on May 23, the day the vote count was held.

And it is on the steam of the May 23 victory that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of the country on May 30.

A good number of leaders from BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation) countries added the international look to the day that Narendra Modi took oath for his second stint as the Prime Minister of the country.

Second stint as the Prime Minister of India on the trot and what is significant is the fact that Narendra Modi is the first non-Congress leader to be elected Prime Minister for the second time after completing his first five year tenure as the Prime Minister.

Atal Behari Vajpayee of the BJP too was elected as Prime Minister for two consecutive terms but his first stint in office lasted for only one year and seven months.

It is also clear that the massive mandate given to the BJP is the people saying that India should now step out from the shadow of dynastic politics and look beyond a family to run the affairs of the country.

This is best exemplified by the defeat handed out to Congress president Rahul Gandhi by Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family pocket borough, Amethi.

In as much as the victory of the BJP has been tremendous and reflects the mindset of a people ready to move out of the mindset of a single family, it remains that the burden of expectations will weigh heavy on the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Will the Modi-Shah combine be able to deliver the goods in the next five years is an interesting question that must have grabbed the attention of all keen political observers.

Another interesting point also lies in that the BJP's hand would have been strengthened that much more in Manipur and for the second time, after 2017, it will be fighting the polls with the BJP in power in 2022.

How this will impact on the Assembly polls here, is anybody's guess, but the odds presently seem to favour BJP here.