naveen mishra
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The formalities to elect the 16th Lok Sabha are complete. The BJP has won an overwhelming mandate of 282 seats and has emerged as the single largest party to form the Government at the Centre. Its Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi led his party from the front and as a result, today the BJP is in a commanding position from which it can form the Government on its own without having to rely upon the allies.
The 16th Lok Sabha election results are indicative of the fact that the people of India were sick of the successive coalition Governments at the centre. Hence India decided to give a thumping majority to Narendra Modi who has promised unprecedented development right through his electioneering. At last, Indian democracy can bid farewell to the coalition era.
Apart from the coalition era, the results of this election have shown that the regional parties with local clouts will not be in a position to partake in the Government-formation at the Centre. The advantage of this mandate will be that Narendra Modi’s Government will not be held hostage by any regional allies’ whims and fancies. And that will enable him to exclusively focus on the mammoth task of rebuilding India. Narendra Modi could successfully convince his countrymen to give him sixty months to change the face of India. His countrymen – who were reeling under the severe impact of the Congress’s misrule of several decades – have finally found their saviour in Narendra Modi who will give them in return a prosperous India in the years to come.
Narendra Modi and India’s new secularism
That said, the 16th Lok Sabha election has also brought the politics of communalism to an end. The parties that believe in promoting the politics of appeasement by treating Muslims as their vote banks have lost heavily. During the electioneering the Muslim votes were in a huge demand but the election results have shown that neither the Muslim votes nor the Muslim candidates have managed to impact or influence the final outcomes of this election.
For the first time the Indian parliament will have no Muslim MPs. The BJP’s prominent Muslim face and ex MP Shahnawaz Husain has also lost his stronghold of Bhagalpur in Bihar strangely enough. It is not that the BJP has failed in Bihar. In fact, the Modi tsunami has trounced the JD(U) and RJD by turning the tide in the BJP’s favour. Unfortunately, Shahnawaz Husain could not win taking advantage of the Modi tsunami.
The BJP is often asked the question as to why it does not give tickets to Muslims. The BJP gave tickets to seven Muslim candidates but all the seven candidates lost which is both baffling and a huge mystery. What does this development indicate? Has India rejected the politics of religious identity? Have the Muslim voters and candidates alike become ‘person non granta’ in the Indian politics?
Is this end of bogus secular-communal discourse?
The Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi ran a campaign which was based on development that promised inclusion of all sections of the society without any discrimination whatsoever. The mainstream media and the pseudo-secular parties tried to create polarisation by resorting to the fear mongering using Narendra Modi’s name. In turn, this ploy hugely benefited the BJP by rendering the Muslim votes irrelevant.
Another damaging developments were such as Azam Khan and Abu Azmi of the Samajvadi Party who kept issuing statements that further exacerbated the polarisation created by the media. Imran Masood of the Congress was caught on tape threatening Narendra Modi. Shazia Ilmi of the Aam Aadmi Party was caught on tape advising Muslims to be communal. Salman Khurshid of the Congress was focusing only on making personal attacks on Narendra Modi. The Abdullahs from the valley kept issuing statements criticising Narendra Modi. All these Muslim leaders from the pseudo-secular parties caused immense harm to their co-religionists by indulging in activities that angered the rest of the society even as the polling was on.
Modi victory shows corrupt Congress its place in history
The result is today not even a single Muslim MP has been able to make it to the Parliament. Even the political parties will exercise great caution while asking for the Muslim votes in next elections if these parties have learnt any lessons at all. The Muslim community is at a crossroad now. With Narendra Modi as the prime minister of India, it has got a great opportunity to join the mainstream by stepping out of the religious identity. It ought to improve its conditions by way of education as hinted by Narendra Modi himself in his various television interviews. Whatever has happened in the 16th Lok Sabha elections should serve as a wake up call for India’s largest minority. If it does not get its act together now, it will be too late for its relevance in the Indian politics.
Narendra Modi and reinventing the Indian Muslim identity | Niti Central
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