BJP raring to go all alone in 2022 polls
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 03, 2021 -

IT'S obvious that the alliance partners wouldn't be amused with the remarks of BJP Manipur Pradesh chief spokesman Ch Bijoy that the leading party is planning to sever ties with all its allies and form the next government on its own.

His cocksure disposition that the BJP wouldn't be in need of the support of any regional or national party after the 2022 state assembly election might be on the basis ofthe overwhelming mandate received by the saffron party in the 2019 parliamentary polls but he seems to be undermining the fact that coalition government has become a part and parcel of India's electoral politics for nearly three decades now.

Unlike the multiple decades of single party rule of the Congress, which wrested power on the virtue and narratives over the Indian freedom movement, the advent of coalition government and politics has transformed the contemporary generation to follow the example of their leaders rather than the parties in the fray.

Regardless of the change in the public's perception, it is often said that when governments do good things, people would definitely do the same.

Similarly, when those in the government speak temperately, and without excitement, anger or malice, the citizens would do likewise.

As such, Bijoy dismissing the importance of the alliance partners, which helped the BJP in preventing the arch rival Congress from retaining power in-spite of emerging as the single largest in the 2017 assembly polls, has the potential to create fissures within the government in the state where the next election is due in early 2022.

Thus, for materialisation of Bijoy's prediction of an exclusive BJP government in a multi-ethnic state like Manipur, the party will have to be acceptable to all as it's an undeniable fact not all the communities subscribe to the principles and vision of the saffron party.

Moreover, with recent elections turning into more of a plebiscite on personality of leaders of the contesting parties, as had been exemplified by incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading from the front to win the 2019 parliamentary elections with a thumping majority, personality politics has been gaining relevance at the national level and its impact percolating to the states as well.

The BJP's failure to reach the majority mark in the 2017 assembly election amid the growing popularity of Narendra Modi stands testimony that the party lacked a leader who could sway the voters.

While Congress was left to rue its fate consequent to hurried stitching of a post-poll alliance by the BJP in the state, the parent party keeping faith on its NDA partners to form the government at the centre in-spite of having commanding numbers of MPs underscores that coalition politics is here to stay.

The NDA government signifies that when politics and governance are no longer dominated by one single political party, India and its states will be freed from an over-abundance of political power concentrated in a single party.

While it is unlikely that the alliance partners will react against the BJP spokesman, Bijoy's contention has laid bare the fact there has been lack of harmony within the coalition government.