India’s six- year election battle came to an end on Tuesday, with 640 million citizens voting in the world’s largest surveys.
On the back of his common popularity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was anticipated to get a third term and clinch victory. Instead, voters overwhelmingly rejected his and his Bharatiya Janata Party’s program for the election, with both returning to normal with a resounding victory.
The BJP is projected to get 240 seats in India’s Lok Sabha, falling little of the 272- chair level needed to form government. In a wonder victory, the BJP, which is led by the National Congress Party, won 222 chairs, which means the BJP needs to work with its allies in the National Democratic Alliance to maintain power.
This was not the plan at all. Pre-election exit polls predicted that the BJP and its allies would get between 353 and 401 chairs, while the criticism was expected to stutter between 125 and 182 tickets. There was a common belief that Modi may win and win large, supported by the surveys.
By any measure, the result is a specific punch for Modi. For the first time in Modi’s political career, neither as the chief minister of Gujarat nor as India’s prime minister, has won a lot win. The Congress, which has been in decline for ten years while Modi has ruled American elections for ten years, will also change hands.
Modi may get a second term in office, just the next American president to do so, but he is diminished.
The unsatisfying outcome can be attributed to a number of factors, including growing inequality, fears of constitutional change, and employment. However, Modi’s unwavering and direct targeting of minority groups, especially India’s 200 million Muslims, was likely to turn off electors in key state.
In his re-election plan, Modi focused on issues that may affect millions of voters, including happiness laws and infrastructure projects. But as the days progressed, he resorted to pro- Muslim hate conversation. At campaign demonstrations, the excellent minister labeled Muslims as “infiltrators” and claimed they “had to some children”, a popular Hindu nationalist theme.
Modi even accused Congress of favoring Muslims, claiming that if they won power, the opposition would transfer the money of Hindus to their Muslim companions.
In January, Modi physically opened the controversial Ram church in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, longer seen as a battle for Hindu nationalism. Some people believe that the church, which was constructed over a dome from the 16th century and destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992, aims to resurrect an earlier, Mughal and British Empire-ruled India. Modi’s role sent a clear message to the electorate that he supported an India dominated by Hindus.
This has led to a rise in crime across India, with Muslims targeted. According to Human Rights Watch, Modi’s starting of a temple in Ayodhya sparked religious hostilities, vandalism, threats, and violent incidents against Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, there are reports of Hindu nationalist mobs attacking and torturing Muslims throughout India during regional time celebrations. This is suggestive of Modi’s reported part in stoking anti- Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 when he was chief secretary, which killed at least 1, 000 people. Modi has denied that he was involved in the unrest.
This should not be a shock. Modi and the BJP have used Hindu nationalism for years for political gain because they are intrinsically linked to it. Modi has pushed Hindu populism into the forefront with the intention of marginalizing India’s minority groups in favor of the Hindu lot, despite its long and proud history of humanism.  ,
In 2014 and 2019, the BJP reportedly worked this out with the citizens, winning apparent majority votes in places like Uttar Pradesh where Hindus are most popular. The results from this week, however, suggest that voters have had enough and that Modi’s strategy is just what it is: a jaded attempt at department to get votes.
In Uttar Pradesh – a express governed by the BJP since 2017 – Modi and his party went forward, with the BJP winning 33 chairs, down from the 62 it won in 2019. Unfortunately, the party lost the couch of Faizabad, home to the above Ram church in Ayodhya. Congress and its friends, on the other hand, won a combined 43 tickets, away from 16 in 2019.
West Bengal, a condition in which the BJP had hoped to overthrow the INDIA empire, also suffered loss. The group saw significant increases in 2019, winning 19 of the country’s 42 tickets. But this week, the BJP struggled to make floor, winning simply 12. This was contrary to the exit surveys, which predicted a lot for the BJP in West Bengal, as the overall vote outcome showed.
Social researchers attribute the outcome to two things. Fresh citizens who are not affiliated with the BJP have voted for an opposition that offers a fresh perspective by rejecting Modi’s futuristic Hindu position.
Some Indians, especially young people, have been offended by Modi’s growing hatred for Muslims. Understandably, these minority neighborhoods have cast ballots in opposition to the BJP across India. This is a lesson for Modi as he and his Party evaluate and listen to the election’s fallout.
Given that most Indians are more concerned with enhancing their quality of life and supporting their people, there is a cap on how many seats is politicians earn from hate and violence. This has certainly played a role in the decline of popularity of some governments over period.
The solution is simple. Modi really work to unite the country rather than separate it, and make sure that all Indians are benefited by a developing economy. When it embraces its happy past of atheism, India has always been at its best. It’s high time Modi and his BJP embraced that political truth.