Monday, November 9, 2015

The Bihar Massacre

I cannot remember the last time when I was so excited by a state assembly election. The blame squarely falls on BJP for turning a Bihar state election into a national event. It was horrifying to see the entire government camped in Bihar for a state election campaigning. Perhaps, never before had such a thing happened in the history of free India.

When the much anxiously awaited day finally dawned,  there was an air of excitement and suspense all over the cyberspace. As the counting started, BJP party members and supporters started celebrations as their party took initial lead. Then it turned into a big confusion when various Indian news channels started flashing different results. Everybody was tweeting only one question on the net “which results to believe”. The situation was so tense in the cyberspace that one netizen tweeted “I cannot take it anymore,  wake me up when it is all over”. The whole event turned into one big thriller.

After what seemed like tense, confused couple of hours, the final results were announced. It turned out to be an absolute massacre of BJP by the RJD-JDU-Congress combo. The so called “Modi Wave” was a damp squib.

Diwali celebrations started early for the Biharis! As for me, 8th November 2015 turned out to be one of the most enjoyable Sundays. It felt as if my favorite team had won the match, hands down. Such was the euphoria!

Unfortunately, it was not such a joyful day for BJP and its supporters. Especially on social websites, it was all very quiet and subdued. It looked like deserted empty streets of a town that was hit by a cyclone. Social media was conspicuous with the absence of the usually abusive BJP supporters. The trolls were  nowhere to be seen, perhaps back in hiding, licking their wounds.

Most of these trolls are cowards with fake ID’s, hiding behind fake pictures, some even hiding behind masks of Mr. Modi. No doubt, they would be back, if not already, when the Bihar massacre effect wears off. They will be back to their old dirty ways, using the most filthy and abusive language one can come across on the social media. They use the most despicable communal and sexists innuendos, especially against female netizens who happen to be brave enough to take a stand for their beliefs or against government policies. The filth and the profanities they use is disgusting, to say the least.

As for the government, they should ask themselves, was it worth wasting the entire time of the government for a state election. They tried every trick/strategy they could use but in the end nothing could fool the people of Bihar. Offer of crores of rupees worth packages, fears of reservation being given to communal groups, concerns of celebrations in Pakistan if BJP lost the election, personal attack on Sonia Gandhi and her family members, and finally concern for cow, nothing worked. They forgot the one simple mantra that always works "never take the people for granted". If they can put you on the pedestal, it will not take much time for the very same people to bring you down.

It is the time of introspection for BJP. They should understand by now that while some people may be impressed with their speeches and Congress-hate campaigns, it cannot go on forever. They should at least now understand that they came to power on the promise of good governance, welfare and development of the country, not for spreading their party colors all across the country. Perhaps, it is time for the PM to delegate the PR management of BJP and other associate organizations to someone else. It is time to get out of the election mode and get back into governance mode and deliver the promises. Most importantly, the party should stop indulging in useless allegations. If there is enough evidence, prosecute the culprits, put them in jail and throw away the key. But stop the futile allegations. 'For God sake, realize, you are in power, not in opposition'.

One would have thought that the decimation of the BJP in the Delhi state election would have taught them some lesson. Unfortunately, it was not to be. After the miserable loss in the Delhi election, the members of government were mostly busy with Sonia Gandhi family bashing, communal bashing and of course raking up cow-row at every opportunity. It was so silly and unfortunate even to try to obliterate history by manufacturing a new one. More unfortunate that foreign visitors had to remind us of our history during the recent Indian African summit. The way some people were telling everyone they didn’t like to go to Pakistan, it sounded as if they had become self appointed Tour Operators for Pakistan tourism. So silly and immature!

Will the BJP learn its lesson from the Bihar debacle? Will the cow-brigade cease its anti-communal crusade? Will there be end to the unforgivable wastage of time by some union ministers who indulge in abusing and casting aspersions on non-Hindu communities and making cheap personal attacks on political opponents? Will they stop the useless rhetoric of "go to Pakistan"? Will they come out of election mode and start governing and deliver their promised development and prosperity?

Only time can give the answers. Let us hope, wait, and watch.

                                                 ***