Verdict 2017 – Message from UP – Move on, Development is Desire.

Verdict 2017 – Message from UP  – Move on, Development is Desire.

I am slightly late, full blame to my laziness.

Let me begin this piece with patting my back – I was wishing, BJP to win 320+ seats and Congress should not touch double digit mark.

Both my wishes were granted by wise, politically active, astute and sensible voters of "Mera Uttar Pradesh".

Let me also congratulate, hardworking, yet nameless, workers and karyakartas of world’s largest political party, BJP.

Once the verdict was crystal clear I received a message from friends of BJP groups, which sum up the mood.

“उल्लास मनाए पर संयम बरते “ “Celebrate with restraints”.

The enormity of this statement can only be compared with aftermath of 2012 election victory of Samajwadi Party, under visionary leadership of Shri Akhilesh Yadav blessed by Manniye Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav. (Pun intended, sarcasm contended)

The Samajwadi workers ran, unchecked, unabashed, unrestrained riotous run till the tsuNAMO swept away family bastions, long hold fortresses and completely decimated regional straps of their hegemony in worst ever political defeat ever.

Decimation is understatement for another National party Bahujan Samaj Party. It’s facing existential problem of epic proportion.

Irrelevant with zero MPs in Loksabha and nearing to zero in near future with 17 MLA’s in RajyaSabha.

“हाथी तो पिचक गया “is common refrain in Hindi heartland.

Little to write about a yet another National party named Congress which will have 7 MLA’s in comparison to very regional party Apna Dal’s 9 MLA’s.  

Results are declared and every pollster, political commentator, opinion piece writer have tried to dissect results as per his knowledge and wisdom.

I will try to put my views on what I infer from it.

If one word which comes to mind after seeing BJP’s UP numbers is “Stupendous”.

But How it happened:

If a party is running -
“Discretionary, Divisive Dole-based Development-Devoid Dynastic rule”,

no wonder it will end up with 47 seats and in process will lose 177 seats from peak of 224.

Akhilesh Sarkar run a government which was not visible till 2014 Lok Sabha elections, after the drubbing it panicked and started half-baked development projects 

- which ended in running Ghost Metro in Lucknow,
- yet to be drive ready Agra-Lucknow expressway,
- non-responsive dial 100,
- schemes specific to minorities (as if others don’t exist and don’t see),
- non-existent law and order (where ruffians had field day in harassing girls and young women),
- where every state government department was bribe infested,
- where postings and transfer were bidding based,
- where everything was so bad that you can fill reams and reams with unfinished saga of loot, corruption and dynastic appropriations.

On top of that, towards the fag end of despotic rule, two princes of national and regional dynasty collaborated to forge an alliance of opportunism, simply to test voter’s patience and intelligence.

Irony died thousand deaths at the altar of brazen hypocrisy, Rahul Gandhi took UP voters on a flagrant ride, thinking that they have forgotten, certain Ms. Sheila Dixit, who was exhorted out of her retirement to lead a battle of chief minister ship, in hope to to get elusive votes of Brahmin’s of UP.

This part of script was created by self-appointed “master marketer” title holder PK aka Prashant Kishore.

The script from the start showed in open, a plot, which was, as intertwined as khatia’s of “Khat pe Charcha” fame.

Anyways thousands of khatia’s are now part of souvenirs collected by smart rural folk they wisely believed

“सुनने आये हैं तो कुछ लेके जायेंगे, कुछ और नहीं तो, तेरी खटिया ही सही“.

When kissa-e-khatia didn’t get enough traction, desperation drove team Rahul to forge an alliance with, till then bete noire turn best friends forever Akhilesh. 

They formed team “UP ke Londe”, with forced caption “यूपी को यह साथ पसंद हैं”.

In last six months, UP also witnessed family saga, which was full of fake emotions, overacted dramatics, below the belt comedy, full of fuss and farce, ending with not even a whimper.

Voter of UP was silently witnessing this and was eagerly waiting for EVM’s to come, so he/she can register their silent yet loud protest.

The blunders were coming like rolling bundles.

The fight was for UP vidhan sabha, but “UP ke londey” turned it into performance appraisal of Modi government.

There were no questions on Akhilesh government performance but full focus on

Gadhe, ,mere angne main tumhara kya kaam, DDLJ, film making and direction, what president Obama (ex was not mentioned, as script writer was GK deficient) should buy from Moradabad – banaras- Rampur (from toliya, safa to manufactured mango and cultivated petha, to “पतीला तो पलीता”).

Desperation to prove “Notebandi is Nasbandi” to invisible “Kaam bolta hain" (ya nahi par Hamare Karname jaroor bolte hain) There were plots and sub plots, but all were silently adding up to demolish growing hubris.

Was this enough?

All these at best can explain defeat, it does not explain decimation.

The vote share of BJP has touched historic high wrt assembly elections but few points lower than 2014 loksabha elections.

This vote share has resulted in landslide 325 seats (close to 80% of total seats).

Negative voting or vote to defeat is not sufficient in a complex state like UP to result in such a verdict.

State which is crucible of caste, religion, class and identity based politics cannot simply give such a decimating verdict to strong regional party.

Since 1989, the Mandal and Kamandal politics of UP has shaped the national narrative.

Kamandal politics run out of steam till mid-nineties and taken over by caste and identity politics.

For close to two decades governments were getting formed on permutations and combinations of caste and religion.

Politics were centered on pillars of dalits, muslims, OBC, kurmis, kumhar, shia sunni, kayasth, Brahmin, baniya, bhumihar, kshatriye, dom, mallah, kahar etc vote banks.

A set template was used to align caste and religion equations to gain power.

In all these caste engineering, real engineering started taking back seat and state was going deep into mismanagement of its potential, resources and human capital.

Desperation, flight of human capital, cynicism and feeling of exasperation was growing in quiet masses of humanity.

Finally voters of UP realized, they need resurrection, they need to get themselves out of this deep slumber of status quo.

They say hope in Narendra Damodar Das Modi, Modi and his man Friday Amit Shah changed the political idioms, rewrote the election fighting template.

Modi and Amit Shah, crisscrossed the state with message of development, hope and promise to change.

A change which will bring uninterrupted electricity to villages, to factories, to homes.

A change which will bring water to parched lands of Bundelkhand, which will bring drinking waters to ancient, medieval and modern cities of Ayodhya, kashi, Mathura, Agra, Kanpur and Noida for example.

A change which will restore law of land and bring order to chaos.

A change which will help generations to stand on their feet in just and equitable society.

Hope and dreams are big words, people in general don’t expect doles but expect opportunities.

They saw glimmer of hope in Modi, cutting across barriers of caste, identity, religion and class they voted for

“Affirmative Change”
“Visible Change”
“Absolute Change”
“Complete Change”
“decisive change”.

Development is new desire, development is not only about building expressways, SEZs, Malls and shopping complexes.

Development is improvement in quality of primary education, development is presence of teacher in school, development is getting approval for opening a business without hassles and bribes, development is getting medical care at tertiary, secondary and primary healthcare centers.

UP desires, development with human face, Ujjwala scheme of LPG cylinder distribution to rural households is prime example of development bringing change to human life.

Imagine a cylinder driving away smoke, from a home filled with it, hazy lights giving way to brightness.

These small glimmers of hope and development gave wings to people of UP to dream and to desire for better life – a better and promising future.

Modi’s UP victory will change politics of India in coming years.

It is said that land and water of UP is filled with politics, if UP can desire, rest assure, India is desiring the same.

UP is microcosm of humanity, its land of opportunities, history, culture, religion and revolutions.

UP has decided to change, now it’s over to Modi and Shah to fill colors in template of change.

I am hopeful, a new set of leadership will emerge which will drive UP to claim its rightful space in comity of states.

15 March 2017