#BJP allies

[newspaper12]

Nitish Kumar speaks of 'friendship' with BJP leader, ally plays down remark - Times of India

Nitish Kumar speaks

Nitish Kumar speaks :- MOTIHARI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday whereas pointing in the direction of a BJP chief from the stage stated "All of the folks we've right here, are our pals. You'll stay linked to me so long as I dwell." Nitish was talking on the convocation ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Central College in Motihari. "All of the folks we've listed here are our pals. We're completely different, you're completely different, does it imply our friendship will finish? You'll stay linked to me so long as I dwell. We are going to all work collectively. President, we're very pleased that you're right here. We want you to maintain coming right here. We are going to present you the whole Champaran as soon as, the land of Mahatma Gandhi," Nitish Kumar stated. The RJD, an ally of Nitish Kumar, nevertheless, performed down the feedback saying the Bihar chief minister was talking of his private relationships. "Radha Mohan Singh (of BJP) was sitting in entrance, so he spoke about his private relationship. There isn't a point out of any occasion. Individuals interpreted him incorrectly" stated RJD's Shakti Yadav. The BJP additionally distanced itself from the feedback and stated it has no connection any extra with Nitish Kumar. "Nitish Kumar has left, we've requested him to go away. BJP clearly believes that we're collectively in growth however there's a struggle on rules. Amit Shah has stated that he has no reference to Nitish Kumar" stated Saket Choudhary the state BJP chief. President Droupadi Murmu and governor Rajendra Vishwanath have been additionally current on the stage. Immediately is the second day of President Murmu's go to to Bihar. President Droupadi Murmu had on Wednesday inaugurated the state's fourth agriculture highway map geared toward enhancing agriculture manufacturing in Patna. In her deal with, she acknowledged that agriculture is a vital a part of the people tradition of Bihar and the premise of its financial system. Whereas launching the Krishi highway map President Murmu stated that farmers of Bihar are identified for adopting new experiments in farming noting {that a} Nobel laureate economist had referred to as the farmers of Nalanda "larger than scientists". "Because of the implementation of the final three agricultural highway maps, the productiveness of paddy, wheat and maize within the state has virtually doubled. Bihar has additionally turn into a number one state within the manufacturing of mushrooms, honey, makhana (fox nuts) and fish. The launch of the fourth Agriculture Highway Map is a vital step in the direction of taking this effort ahead," President Murmu stated. The President urged farmers of Bihar to reap the benefits of the rising demand for natural merchandise. #Nitish #Kumar #speaks #friendship #BJP #chief #ally #performs #comment #Instances #India Nitish Kumar speaks of 'friendship' with BJP chief, ally performs down comment - Instances of India Read the full article

[reasonsforhope]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, by some measures, the most popular leader in the world. Prior to the 2024 election, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held an outright majority in the Lok Sabha (India’s Parliament) — one that was widely projected to grow after the vote count. The party regularly boasted that it would win 400 Lok Sabha seats, easily enough to amend India’s constitution along the party's preferred Hindu nationalist lines.

But when the results were announced on Tuesday, the BJP held just 240 seats. They not only underperformed expectations, they actually lost their parliamentary majority. While Modi will remain prime minister, he will do so at the helm of a coalition government — meaning that he will depend on other parties to stay in office, making it harder to continue his ongoing assault on Indian democracy.

So what happened? Why did Indian voters deal a devastating blow to a prime minister who, by all measures, they mostly seem to like?

India is a massive country — the most populous in the world — and one of the most diverse, making its internal politics exceedingly complicated. A definitive assessment of the election would require granular data on voter breakdown across caste, class, linguistic, religious, age, and gender divides. At present, those numbers don’t exist in sufficient detail. 

But after looking at the information that is available and speaking with several leading experts on Indian politics, there are at least three conclusions that I’m comfortable drawing.

First, voters punished Modi for putting his Hindu nationalist agenda ahead of fixing India’s unequal economy. Second, Indian voters had some real concerns about the decline of liberal democracy under BJP rule. Third, the opposition parties waged a smart campaign that took advantage of Modi’s vulnerabilities on the economy and democracy.

Understanding these factors isn’t just important for Indians. The country’s election has some universal lessons for how to beat a would-be authoritarian — ones that Americans especially might want to heed heading into its election in November.

-via Vox, June 7, 2024. Article continues below.

A new (and unequal) economy

Modi’s biggest and most surprising losses came in India’s two most populous states: Uttar Pradesh in the north and Maharashtra in the west. Both states had previously been BJP strongholds — places where the party’s core tactic of pitting the Hindu majority against the Muslim minority had seemingly cemented Hindu support for Modi and his allies.

One prominent Indian analyst, Yogendra Yadav, saw the cracks in advance. Swimming against the tide of Indian media, he correctly predicted that the BJP would fall short of a governing majority.

Traveling through the country, but especially rural Uttar Pradesh, he prophesied “the return of normal politics”: that Indian voters were no longer held spellbound by Modi’s charismatic nationalist appeals and were instead starting to worry about the way politics was affecting their lives.

Yadav’s conclusions derived in no small part from hearing voters’ concerns about the economy. The issue wasn’t GDP growth — India’s is the fastest-growing economy in the world — but rather the distribution of growth’s fruits. While some of Modi’s top allies struck it rich, many ordinary Indians suffered. Nearly half of all Indians between 20 and 24 are unemployed; Indian farmers have repeatedly protested Modi policies that they felt hurt their livelihoods.

“Everyone was talking about price rise, unemployment, the state of public services, the plight of farmers, [and] the struggles of labor,” Yadav wrote...

“We know for sure that Modi’s strongman image and brassy self-confidence were not as popular with voters as the BJP assumed,” says Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who studies India. 

The lesson here isn’t that the pocketbook concerns trump identity-based appeals everywhere; recent evidence in wealthier democracies suggests the opposite is true. Rather, it’s that even entrenched reputations of populist leaders are not unshakeable. When they make errors, even some time ago, it’s possible to get voters to remember these mistakes and prioritize them over whatever culture war the populist is peddling at the moment.

Liberalism strikes back

The Indian constitution is a liberal document: It guarantees equality of all citizens and enshrines measures designed to enshrine said equality into law. The signature goal of Modi’s time in power has been to rip this liberal edifice down and replace it with a Hindu nationalist model that pushes non-Hindus to the social margins. In pursuit of this agenda, the BJP has concentrated power in Modi’s hands and undermined key pillars of Indian democracy (like a free press and independent judiciary).

Prior to the election, there was a sense that Indian voters either didn’t much care about the assault on liberal democracy or mostly agreed with it. But the BJP’s surprising underperformance suggests otherwise.

The Hindu, a leading Indian newspaper, published an essential post-election data analysis breaking down what we know about the results. One of the more striking findings is that the opposition parties surged in parliamentary seats reserved for members of “scheduled castes” — the legal term for Dalits, the lowest caste grouping in the Hindu hierarchy.

Caste has long been an essential cleavage in Indian politics, with Dalits typically favoring the left-wing Congress party over the BJP (long seen as an upper-caste party). Under Modi, the BJP had seemingly tamped down on the salience of class by elevating all Hindus — including Dalits — over Muslims. Yet now it’s looking like Dalits were flocking back to Congress and its allies. Why?

According to experts, Dalit voters feared the consequences of a BJP landslide. If Modi’s party achieved its 400-seat target, they’d have more than enough votes to amend India’s constitution. Since the constitution contains several protections designed to promote Dalit equality — including a first-in-the-world affirmative action system — that seemed like a serious threat to the community. It seems, at least based on preliminary data, that they voted accordingly.

The Dalit vote is but one example of the ways in which Modi’s brazen willingness to assail Indian institutions likely alienated voters.

Uttar Pradesh (UP), India’s largest and most electorally important state, was the site of a major BJP anti-Muslim campaign. It unofficially kicked off its campaign in the UP city of Ayodhya earlier this year, during a ceremony celebrating one of Modi’s crowning achievements: the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a former mosque that had been torn down by Hindu nationalists in 1992. 

Yet not only did the BJP lose UP, it specifically lost the constituency — the city of Faizabad — in which the Ayodhya temple is located. It’s as direct an electoral rebuke to BJP ideology as one can imagine.

In Maharashtra, the second largest state, the BJP made a tactical alliance with a local politician, Ajit Pawar, facing serious corruption charges. Voters seemingly punished Modi’s party for turning a blind eye to Pawar’s offenses against the public trust. Across the country, Muslim voters turned out for the opposition to defend their rights against Modi’s attacks.

The global lesson here is clear: Even popular authoritarians can overreach.

By turning “400 seats” into a campaign slogan, an all-but-open signal that he intended to remake the Indian state in his illiberal image, Modi practically rang an alarm bell for constituencies worried about the consequences. So they turned out to stop him en masse.

The BJP’s electoral underperformance is, in no small part, the direct result of their leader’s zealotry going too far.

Return of the Gandhis? 

Of course, Modi’s mistakes might not have mattered had his rivals failed to capitalize. The Indian opposition, however, was far more effective than most observers anticipated.

Perhaps most importantly, the many opposition parties coordinated with each other. Forming a united bloc called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), they worked to make sure they weren’t stealing votes from each other in critical constituencies, positioning INDIA coalition candidates to win straight fights against BJP rivals.

The leading party in the opposition bloc — Congress — was also more put together than people thought. Its most prominent leader, Rahul Gandhi, was widely dismissed as a dilettante nepo baby: a pale imitation of his father Rajiv and grandmother Indira, both former Congress prime ministers. Now his critics are rethinking things.

“I owe Rahul Gandhi an apology because I seriously underestimated him,” says Manjari Miller, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Miller singled out Gandhi’s yatras (marches) across India as a particularly canny tactic. These physically grueling voyages across the length and breadth of India showed that he wasn’t just a privileged son of Indian political royalty, but a politician willing to take risks and meet ordinary Indians where they were. During the yatras, he would meet directly with voters from marginalized groups and rail against Modi’s politics of hate.

“The persona he’s developed — as somebody kind, caring, inclusive, [and] resolute in the face of bullying — has really worked and captured the imagination of younger India,” says Suryanarayan. “If you’ve spent any time on Instagram Reels, [you’ll see] an entire generation now waking up to Rahul Gandhi’s very appealing videos.”

This, too, has a lesson for the rest of the world: Tactical innovation from the opposition matters even in an unfair electoral context.

There is no doubt that, in the past 10 years, the BJP stacked the political deck against its opponents. They consolidated control over large chunks of the national media, changed campaign finance law to favor themselves, suborned the famously independent Indian Electoral Commission, and even intimidated the Supreme Court into letting them get away with it. 

The opposition, though, managed to find ways to compete even under unfair circumstances. Strategic coordination between them helped consolidate resources and ameliorate the BJP cash advantage. Direct voter outreach like the yatra helped circumvent BJP dominance in the national media.

To be clear, the opposition still did not win a majority. Modi will have a third term in office, likely thanks in large part to the ways he rigged the system in his favor.

Yet there is no doubt that the opposition deserves to celebrate. Modi’s power has been constrained and the myth of his invincibility wounded, perhaps mortally. Indian voters, like those in Brazil and Poland before them, have dealt a major blow to their homegrown authoritarian faction.

And that is something worth celebrating.

-via Vox, June 7, 2024.

[phenakistoskope]

remember, the inauguration of the ram temple isn't a mere matter of hindu religious grandstanding, it is also an event to signal investment opportunities for the further development of the neoliberal economy.

sure, the official story says that the temple was built from donations gathered from hindus and inexplicable well-wishers across the economic spectrum (the fundraising for this was notably, extremely threatening), but this is most likely a smokescreen for a complicated series of economic maneuvers carried out by the bjp, rss, vhp, and allied organisations.

we already know that the temple itself was built by the multi-national construction agency larsen and toubro, which really lays precedent for the exact form of investment this “development project” and its peripheral projects seek funding from, and to whom the profits accrued will go.

[wherestoriescomefrom]

Seldom before has there been so much joy in the shadow of defeat. But as the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections began to trickle in on Tuesday morning, the smiles and good cheer began to heat up an already sultry day. Not since the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019 has India allowed itself what former US President Barack Obama described as the audacity of hope.

Of course, even though the Bharatiya Janata Party has fallen short of a majority, Narendra Modi has taken it close enough to the halfway mark to form the new government. However, in its enfeebled state, propped up by allies who know the precise cost of their support, the new BJP administration will be forced to temper its bluster and contain its malevolence against those it considers its enemies. Among those the BJP has considered its adversaries are independent journalists, several of whom have been jailed and prosecuted simply for doing their jobs.

This result will undoubtedly trigger a tectonic shift in the BJP. There is no telling how the pieces will fall. As long-supressed aspirations in the Hindutva party shoot to the surface, perhaps even more hardline leaders will assume prominence.

But as reports from the ground have pointed out, this mandate is a rejection of the illiberal agenda, both social and economic, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advanced over the past decade. By ignoring Modi’s provocations of mangalsutras, machli and mujras, Indian voters – especially the most marginalised – have decisively rallied to the defence of the Constitution.

The battle to reclaim the idea of an equitable India is far from being won. But as Tuesday demonstrated, there are many who dream of reinforcing the foundations of a Republic based on the values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. For now, India can breathe again.

— The Audacity of Hope, Scroll Editor's Note.

[mapsontheweb]

A more detailed Indian election results.

by u/Greedy-Rate-349

Bharatiya Janata party loses its majority after 10 years and has to depend on allies to form a government which wasn't predicted by any exit polls which were claiming that BJP will alone get over 350 seats and thus the result has been celebrated by the opposition despite its defeat and they also managed to capture many seats on BJP's strongholds specifically in UP

Translations

Bharatiya Janata party - Hindi for Indian people's party

Telugu Desam Party -Telugu for Party of the Telugu Lands

Janata dal United -Hindi for People's party United

Trinamool Congress - Bengali for Grassroots Congress

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Tamil for Dravidian progressive alliance

Samajwadi party -Hindi for Socialist party

Other parties include a long list as well some major NDA allies were - Lok Janshakti party(Ram Vilas), Shiv Sena, National Congress party, Janata dal (secular), Rashtriya lok dal,Asom Gana Parishad

Other major INDIA parties include- Rashtriya Janata dal Shiv sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Nationalist Congress party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction) Communist party of India (Marxist) Communist party of India Communist party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation Aam Aadmi party Jammu Kashmir National Conference Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

Also two unaligned Chandrashekhar Azad of the Azad Samajwadi party (Kanshiram) and Pappu Yadav have announced that they will support INDIA bloc.

Parties like JDU and TDP have a history of love hate relationship with NDA and there is speculation that they might jump ship that can topple BJP, however no such news has come forward and we will have to see what comes next

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Hannah Ellis-Petersen at The Guardian:

Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power. With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country. The party lost 62 seats, bringing its total down to 240, below the 272 required for a parliamentary majority. It is the first time since Modi was elected in 2014 that the BJP has not won a clear majority on its own. Nonetheless, together with its political allies, known as the national democratic alliance (NDA), its win amounts to about 292 seats, which is enough to form a majority government to rule for the next five years and return Modi to office for a third term.

Meanwhile, the opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym INDIA, far outperformed expectations, collectively winning more than 230 seats. The alliance, formed of more than 20 national and regional opposition parties, had come together for the first time in this election with the aim of defeating Modi.

Incumbent Indian PM Narendra Modi and his right-wing BJP won the most seats, but not enough to gain a majority on its own in the recent election in India. Modi is likely to remain PM, as his coalition partners National Democratic Alliance are likely to cobble a majority.

[nando161mando]

remember that brahminism is a form of colonialism too and savarnas can't just move past caste merely by losing their last names, supporting affirmative action, voting out modi/bjp or being allies to the oppressed generally: they have to give up the wealth they stole, and power over territories they have violently occupied.

they have to change their relationship with the oppressed materially, by actively transferring assets they have stolen from bahujan communities and the surpluses they have "earned" by enslaving them for centuries, and by resisting other savarnas who come in the way of this.

[therukurals]

The reclamation of such images appears to be Patel’s goal—one he shares with numerous Hindu leaders who have continued to battle Hindu nationalism. But the use of Hindu imagery as a call to violence, reminiscent of the Hindutva project, is central to Kid’s mission, resulting in narrative dissonance. In comparison, the movie’s villains only use Hinduism as a façade for violence and financial gain, rather than as a sincere fixture of their fanaticism. They represent Hindutva only in the abstract, echoing its power structures without its ideology. Kid, meanwhile, perhaps inadvertently, embodies it in both belief and action. In a key flashback, Rana—acting on Shakti’s orders—clears out Kid’s forest-adjacent village so the land can be used for industrial growth. This bears a striking resemblance to the Indian government’s recent attempts to evict thousands of Muslims along India’s Eastern border and millions of indigenous people from tribal lands. The BJP’s political opponents believe these land seizures are an attempt to transfer tribal resources to corporate allies, not unlike Shakti’s plan for Kid’s village. However, the metaphor is muddled. Rather than framing Kid’s community as an oppressed caste, religion, or tribe, the only visible culturally specific moment involves the villagers enjoying a marionette re-telling of the Ramayana, which is interrupted by incendiary violence. In the movie’s purview, Hinduism is under attack from something non-Hindu, or falsely Hindu, rather than from dangerous factions of Hinduism itself. This grants Kid permission to weaponize it freely, sans conflict or spiritual reckoning—a thematic tension the movie never reconciles.

[tomorrowusa]

This is a good idea...

Ban fossil fuel ads to save climate, says UN chief

Tobacco ads were banned on TV and radio in the early 1970s in the United States. That began a process of denormalization of tobacco which has continued in the years since then.

Climate change likely played a role in India's national election.

The hidden story behind India’s remarkable election results: lethal heat

The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), led by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has won more seats than the opposition alliance, and yet its victory tastes of defeat. Why? In the days leading to the election, the BJP’s main slogan had been Abki baar, 400 Paar, a call to voters to send more than 400 of its candidates to the 543-member parliament. This slogan, voiced by Modi at his campaign rallies, set a high bar for the party. Most exit polls had predicted a massive victory for the BJP – and now the results, with that party having won only 240 seats, suggest that the electorate has sent a chastening message to the ruling party and trimmed its hubris. [ ... ] People in Patna voted on 1 June, the last day of the seven-phase polling schedule. In Patna, the temperature had hovered above 40C. Local newspapers carried government ads exhorting voters to exercise their franchise, as well as half-page ads from the health ministry offering advice about how to avoid heatstroke. In the days leading to the voting in Patna, there were reports of personnel at polling stations dying from the heat. In the nation’s capital, Delhi, there were protests over water shortages. Last week, the temperature in Delhi hit 49.9C.

For the Celsius-challenged, 49.9° C = 121.8° F. That's just 0.2° F short of the all time record high temperature in Phoenix, Arizona which reputedly has "dry" heat.

As it turned out the ruling BJP did win the election but will be able to govern only with the help of electoral allies. The BJP had been boasting about getting 400 seats in the 543 seat Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament. It ended up with just 240 with its allies winning 53 for a total of 293 seats. It is a modest working majority but is way down from the 353 seats won by the BJP & allies in the previous election.

Climate was certainly not the only issue in the election but experiencing a severe heat wave in which people were dropping dead at polling places is bound to have an impact. Politicians in India may now be more open to moving away from fossil fuels. The opposition would be wise to make climate change a bigger issue.

[mariacallous]

India’s election calculus is tricky. When Narendra Modi led the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014, he increased his party’s parliamentary seat tally to 282 from 116, essentially by gaining 12 percentage points of the popular vote. It was the first time since 1984 that a single Indian party won enough seats to form a government on its own.

The Indian National Congress party led the ruling coalition that Modi and the BJP defeated in 2014; the party’s vote share fell by 9 percentage points, but its seats dropped from 206 to a mere 44. Five years later, the BJP’s vote share rose again, to 37 percent, giving Modi’s party 303 seats. Congress increased its number of seats to 52, but as in 2014, that wasn’t even enough to merit a formal leader of the opposition in parliament.

In the six-week national election that concluded this month, the BJP’s vote share dropped only marginally, to around 36 percent, but its number of seats fell dramatically, to 240—causing the party to lose its majority. Although Congress’s vote share rose modestly to around 21 percent, its seats increased to 99. As a result, India will have an official leader of the opposition for the first time in a decade. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party leader and heir to India’s most illustrious political dynasty, may well play that role.

That may seem like a small achievement for India’s beleaguered opposition—and the election result was still the third-worst performance for Congress since India’s first vote in 1952—but it represents a change surprising and seismic enough for some analysts to conclude that Modi’s latest victory was “Pyrrhic,” and that the opposition now has a foundation to win in 2029. As the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson quipped, “A week is a long time in politics”—and five years an eternity.

In 2029, Modi will be 78 years old, but this year, he still ran a campaign based on his own record and personality. The BJP’s manifesto included more than 50 photographs of Modi. Much commentary about the results has focused on Modi’s declining popularity. Given his political dominance, it is natural for his critics to enjoy a moment of schadenfreude. On the campaign trail, Modi’s rhetoric sounded more shrill, critical of minorities, and insulting toward his opponents; during the election, he even implied that he was divinely ordained to lead India.

This year’s election has also undermined the argument that Modi’s main rival, Rahul Gandhi, is a political lightweight overwhelmed by India’s complexities. Gandhi is descended from three former prime ministers, including India’s first, Jawaharlal Nehru. (His mother, Sonia, serves in the upper house of parliament.) Now 54, Gandhi has been a member of parliament since 2004, winning six of the seven elections that he has contested. Yet the BJP has carried out a relentless and remarkably effective propaganda campaign against him. Modi has described him as a shehzada, or crown prince, while BJP ministers have dismissed him as Pappu, a pejorative term for a young boy of limited intelligence.

Unlike Modi, Gandhi does not assert that he has all the answers; he listens, an approach that may have helped him during the election. He likes to engage the public, and since September 2022 he has led two long marches across the country—the Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March) and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (Unite India for Justice March)—that electrified the masses and transformed his image. According to some estimates, Gandhi wrested 41 parliamentary seats from areas where he marched. He talked to constituents, listened to voters, and spoke about social justice, women’s emancipation, empowering the weak and the dispossessed, and bringing people together.

Those topics may seem mawkish, but India’s last decade has been a period of considerable strife. Discrimination against Muslims has grown, with mosques targeted or claimed by Hindus, homes bulldozed, and interfaith marriages discouraged. The triumphal inauguration of a Hindu temple—sanctioned by the Indian Supreme Court—on the site of a mosque razed in 1992 only further alienated Muslims. The BJP’s policy of imposing the Hindi language in states where it is not spoken widely has fueled animosity. Youth unemployment has risen in many parts of the country, along with inequality.

As in the past, Modi’s campaign focused on divisive issues—but more voters than in the last two elections seemed to listen to Gandhi this time around. These voters likely don’t care about more Indians being listed in global rankings of billionaires; they are uninterested in gleaming high-rises and malls, speedier trains, superior airports, or toll roads connecting long distances. Their concerns are for more access to water, food, electricity, jobs, and justice. Gandhi seemed to fashion the Congress manifesto to respond to those concerns.

This is not to suggest that, if elected to power, the Congress party would meet these perennial needs. Having ruled India for 54 of its 76 years since independence, Congress must bear the blame for India’s lack of development. The party deserves credit for introducing economic liberalization in 1991, but its support for free-market reforms has often been cautious rather than enthusiastic. Furthermore, although Gandhi speaks of harmony, there have been several disturbances under Congress party rule in India—the most notorious being the massacre of Sikhs in 1984 in retaliatory violence after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rahul’s grandmother.

Nonetheless, Gandhi’s spirited campaign, decency, and collegiality stood in marked contrast to Modi’s personalized and abrasive style. Gandhi seemed to avoid a personality cult by building a consensus-driven campaign and not projecting himself as the face of the opposition alliance. In the leadup to the election, he continued to be ridiculed as an entitled politician, but he focused on his message. And wherever he marched, he chipped votes away from the BJP. One analysis showed that between 600,000 and 700,000 votes going the other way in 30 constituencies would have led to a different outcome.

The BJP has portrayed itself as pro-business, and analysts sympathetic to the BJP have described Congress as leftist, with BJP leaders reinforcing the link. Indeed, Congress introduced many welfare schemes for the poor—but the BJP has not canceled any of them during its time in power and has increased support for some programs. Historically, Congress was a centrist or center-left party reliant on the support of Indian businesses that pursued a prudent fiscal policy. The party was distrustful of private capital and free-market economics. But it was also Congress that took early steps in liberalization, invested in technology, and boosted India’s telecoms network.

For Congress, the road ahead remains long, but its rejuvenation raises interesting possibilities. Most Indian voters are too young to remember a Gandhi—or Nehru—as prime minister. Now, there could soon be three Gandhis in parliament: On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka, announced that she would contest one of the two seats that her brother won during this election. Some observers see Priyanka as more charismatic and savvier than Rahul.

Furthermore, a sizable segment of India’s population is under the age of 30, and this generation has rising expectations and aspirations—including an impatience to get rich. Can Congress reinvent itself as India’s so-called banyan tree party that includes everyone under its shade? The BJP offers a muscular nationalism with angry overtones; Gandhi promises that he wants to revive an older idea of India, based on equality and tolerance. Do these younger voters want a calmer, gentler India?

Indian politics has entered a new phase, and the time to ignore Rahul Gandhi may be over. He may still never become India’s prime minister—after all, it seems unlikely that someone from the Gandhi family would want to lead a shaky coalition. But even if he simply persists in emphasizing equality, justice, and empathy, Gandhi will have played a transformative role in Indian politics.

The last decade has shown India’s angry and assertive side, but its founding fathers built the country’s reputation as a soft power that punched above its weight. Reclaiming such moral authority has its virtues. The rules are changing in India, and Gandhi may not only be the son who rises, but also the son who surprises.

[newspaper12]

Nitish Kumar speaks of 'friendship' with BJP leader, ally plays down remark - Times of India

MOTIHARI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday while pointing towards a BJP leader from the stage said "All the people we have here, are our friends. You will remain connected to me as long as I live." Nitish was speaking at the convocation ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari. "All the people we have here are our friends. We are different, you are different, does it mean our friendship will end? You will remain connected to me as long as I live. We will all work together. President, we are very happy that you are here. We would like you to keep coming here. We will show you the entire Champaran once, the land of Mahatma Gandhi," Nitish Kumar said. The RJD, an ally of Nitish Kumar, however, played down the comments saying the Bihar chief minister was speaking of his personal relationships. "Radha Mohan Singh (of BJP) was sitting in front, so he spoke about his personal relationship. There is no mention of any party. People interpreted him incorrectly" said RJD's Shakti Yadav. The BJP also distanced itself from the comments and said it has no connection any more with Nitish Kumar. "Nitish Kumar has left, we have asked him to leave. BJP clearly believes that we are together in development but there is a fight on principles. Amit Shah has said that he has no connection with Nitish Kumar" said Saket Choudhary the state BJP chief. President Droupadi Murmu and governor Rajendra Vishwanath were also present on the stage. Today is the second day of President Murmu's visit to Bihar. President Droupadi Murmu had on Wednesday inaugurated the state's fourth agriculture road map aimed at enhancing agriculture production in Patna. In her address, she stated that agriculture is an important part of the folk culture of Bihar and the basis of its economy. While launching the Krishi road map President Murmu said that farmers of Bihar are known for adopting new experiments in farming noting that a Nobel laureate economist had called the farmers of Nalanda "greater than scientists". "As a result of the implementation of the last three agricultural road maps, the productivity of paddy, wheat and maize in the state has almost doubled. Bihar has also become a leading state in the production of mushrooms, honey, makhana (fox nuts) and fish. The launch of the fourth Agriculture Road Map is an important step towards taking this effort forward," President Murmu said. The President urged farmers of Bihar to take advantage of the rising demand for organic products. #Nitish #Kumar #speaks #friendship #BJP #leader #ally #plays #remark #Times #India Nitish Kumar speaks of 'friendship' with BJP leader, ally plays down remark - Times of India https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid-104552951,width-1070,height-580,imgsize-24530,resizemode-75,overlay-toi_sw,pt-32,y_pad-40/photo.jpg Read the full article

[thoughtlessarse]

Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost its parliamentary majority, dealing an unexpected blow to the prime minister and forcing him to negotiate with coalition partners in order to return to power. With all votes counted early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that the landslide for the BJP predicted in polls had not materialised and instead there had been a pushback against the strongman prime minister and his Hindu nationalist politics in swathes of the country. The party lost 62 seats, bringing its total down to 240, below the 272 required for a parliamentary majority. It is the first time since Modi was elected in 2014 that the BJP has not won a clear majority on its own. Nonetheless, together with its political allies, known as the national democratic alliance (NDA), its win amounts to about 292 seats, which is enough to form a majority government to rule for the next five years and return Modi to office for a third term. Meanwhile, the opposition alliance, which goes by the acronym INDIA, far outperformed expectations, collectively winning more than 230 seats. The alliance, formed of more than 20 national and regional opposition parties, had come together for the first time in this election with the aim of defeating Modi.

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[chappellrroan]

Bjp still won, yes, with the support of the allies and not by themselves but they still won, and that's what matters. Go fuck yourself, bitch

aww i would've neveeeerrr guessed that with the way you're crying in my inbox baby

[his-heart-hymns]

Sooo what is your opinion on today's election results??👀

I was really surprised! I didn't have any idea that the INDI alliance would win around 230 seats. I think they are surprised too. 😂And we still don't know what the outcome is going to be, because BJP unlike 2019, doesn't have that 273 majority mark all alone. It's dependent on Nitish Kumar, Naidu, and other smaller parties. And Nitish Kumar is not a reliable partner at all,he can change sides at any moment😁and Naidu is an old Congress ally. So the INDIA alliance has some chances. Even if they don't form a government, at least we would have a strong opposition. And the most important thing is now BJP doesn't enjoy that elbow room because they don't have a majority of their own; they cannot pass bills arbitrarily. They now have to satisfy all of their allies, something BJP doesn't like. In short, authoritarianism would be under control.

Aur political opinion puch rahe ho,anonymous rehke,bade shaane ho.Matlab kuch honga toh mujhe honga.🤣🤣🤣