The BJP's defeat in Himachal Pradesh Assembly and Delhi civic polls showed that people's day-to-day issues dominated the electoral discourse wherever the Sangh Parivar could not operate their "communal hate machine" besides displaying the limits of "much-touted Modi factor", a CPI(M) document has said.
However, the party said the BJP's victory in Gujarat with a higher vote share reconfirmed that the "communally overcharged hate machine" succeeded in consolidating the "overarching Hindutva identity while pushing the ground realities of deteriorating living conditions of the people into the background".
In its 'Report on Certain Political Developments' adopted at the CPI(M) Central Committee meeting held on January 28-29, the BJP’s seventh successive victory in Gujarat is a "confirmation of the deep communal polarisation that has been engineered" by the BJP-RSS over the last three decades.
The projection of a pan-Hindu identity along with the rhetoric about Gujarati pride has overcome the more vital issues like price rise, unemployment and poor public health and educational facilities, the party analysed.
"In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress victory constitutes a stinging defeat for the BJP which had put in all its resources and state machinery to try to retain power. The popular discontent over BJP misrule prevailed," the CPI(M) analysis said.
It also gave credit to Congress' stand on Old Pension Scheme for the victory in Himachal Pradesh, saying its promise to restore OPS mobilised a large section of votes in its favour.
On the AAP's victory in Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, ousting the BJP from power after 15 years, the CPI(M) said the people of Delhi have "withstood all the blandishments and manoeuvres" of the BJP and the union government.
"The results of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi have exposed the vulnerability of the BJP despite its huge money power and resources. The limits of the much-touted Modi factor have also come to the fore. The defeat of BJP in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi demonstrates that where the RSS/BJP are not able to operate their communal ‘hate machine’ to rouse violent passions, the people’s day-to-day issues dominate the electoral discourse," it said.
The CPI(M) said this underlines the need to "mount a strong offensive against Hindutva communal aggressiveness agenda of the fascistic RSS" and this challenge has to be "met with intensifying efforts" in political, social, cultural and other areas while simultaneously strengthening the struggles over issues of growing unemployment, inflation, poverty etc.
Efforts must be made to forge the broadest mobilisation of secular forces against the Hindutva communal offensive," it added.