A salutary lesson

It might appear churlish to burst a few bubbles in the victory nimbu-soda of the NDA, given a highly creditable hat-trick, but the party at the centre of the formation would do well to heed the message voters have sent them.

Did the BJP, never mind their 400-paar bravado, detect real disillusionment on the ground? That might explain their somewhat schizophrenic campaign: some talk of development, some of handouts, a lot of anti-Muslim dogwhistling (then denial, and then more dogwhistling), topped off with some clearly delusional talk. At best, strangely directionless for a supremely well-oiled election machine. A pivot a day, capped with a liberal dose of hubris, made for an unseemly few weeks.

Despite the relentless spin, something has clearly begun to pall on the nameless, faceless voter. Is it fatigue with a constant, personality-centric electioneering style? Cynicism in the face of tall claims? Anger in the electorally more important north about Agniveer, the farm laws, unemployment and prices? It is probably all of this, accompanied by anti-incumbency following a decade of BJP power.

The party had also become dangerously dependent on the popularity of its workaholic and charismatic PM, so much so that any talk of succession and who next appeared unimaginable.

Now the BJP, which until yesterday used to walk on water, faces the unfamiliar task of having to propitiate a gaggle of coalition allies. This will involve the consumption of some humble pie, always a valuable addition to one’s diet.

Indeed, the election results hold a salutary lesson overall. Somewhere along the line, the party, taking a huge swathe of hitherto centrist India along with it, began to believe in its own invincibility. This was fed by exit polls and obliging television anchors that told it what it wanted to hear. India’s millennium-old tendency to hero worship, deftly exploited, removed any question of a pradhaan mantri being just a pradhaan sevak.

The lesson in this result is just that. The people are telling their leaders: We like you (just about) enough to give you another term. But don’t forget that you work for us.