Inflation is Causing Angst, ByPoll Results is a Wake-Up Call for Bjp!

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  • Make no mistake, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party must be feeling the heat generated by the inflation on the back of the pandemic-induced economic damages during the last year and a half. As the economy slowly trudges along the path of recovery, there are tell-tale signs of people’s angst against the inflation and the rising fuel prices pinching their already depleted resources. To buttress this fact, the results of 3 Lok Sabha and 30 assembly by-polls spread across 13 states and one Union Territory has come as a wake-up call indicating the growing dissatisfaction of people hard-pressed by ever costlier livelihood situation on the ground.

PC: Express

  • The people have voiced their opinion by delivering the governing BJP a mixed message. Of course, the party should be delighted from victories in Assam and Madhya Pradesh and of its allies in Bihar and Northeast, apart from giving TRS the jitters in Telangana yet again. However, the losses in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Maharashtra would prove to be unsettling thereby calling for an honest introspection as to where the party went wrong in wooing the people. Note that HP polls are scheduled next year alongside Gujarat, and Congress has emerged stronger polling 49% of the vote and notching four wins.
  • Nonetheless, not-so-bad performance from the Grand Old Party struggling of late to stay relevant at the hustings. Having changed Chief Ministers in Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Karnataka on mere fears of anti-incumbency without any electoral setback, the evidence from HP will be hard for the BJP high command to ignore as a one-off impediment. In an uncharacteristic admission from the local BJP leadership, HP CM admitting that inflation and infighting caused the debacle will send alarm bells ringing at the top. On top of it, the Rajasthan CM has deftly shifted the responsibility for inflation terming it Centre’s Diwali gift.

PC: PTI

  • Sensing the rising angst of the people across the country, the Centre has cut excise duties on petrol and diesel, perhaps driven by the past experience of how price rise scorched UPA in 2014. The suffering citizens will not complain. Though known for discipline and avoiding the public spectacle of dissidence activities, there is simmering factionalism in state units which might hurt the saffron party in the long run. Maharashtra’s result also shows the MVA alliance’s consolidation which cannot be ignored by BJP either. The relentless juggernaut of Trinamool Congress in Bengal is another 2024 worry for BJP where it must defend Lok Sabha sitting seats.
  • The silver lining for BJP is the south offering much-needed cheer. The party has all but replaced Congress as the main opposition in Telangana. The Telugu Desam Party’s eclipse in Andhra Pradesh is facilitating BJP’s ascent as it finished second to the ruling YSRCP in a bypoll contest. All parties are in campaign mode for the early 2022 assembly polls to some of the most crucial states, including the all-important UP. Against this backdrop, the mixed nature of the bypoll results and the Centre’s fuel tax cuts perhaps indicate inflation’s potency as a hot political issue. Expect more sops and soft cushioning from the survival challenges in the days ahead.