- Millions of countrymen may despise the word politics or for that matter various political parties themselves whether it is national or regional identified either as secular, semi-secular, blatantly communal, ultra-communal, left, right, centrist, and there are any more which calls for thorough understanding. Comprehending what the political parties wish to uphold or convey demands people’s intelligence in reading between the lines to conjure up a particular image. You may not be surprised if the entire political narrative gets completely altered since ideologies are bound to be exchanged or given short shrift in a matter of days.
PC: Nidhi Narnolia
- Not for nothing, it is mentioned that there are no permanent enemies or friends in the political landscape as today’s allies might turn into abusive enemies. In the same vein, a sworn enemy endorsing opposite viewpoints and conceptually differing agenda could become close by forging an alliance to take on the might of the opposing parties. Communal parties suddenly turning into secular and secular parties being bandied as communal is nothing new nor will it end in the foreseeable future. What matters in the political firmament is the unmasked ambitions to assume power by consolidating vote banks by attempting at striking a profitable balance.
- No wonder, there are so many caste equations, calculations, permutations, and combinations that undergo figure crunching to make a political party potent enough to take on the equally prepared opposition. A country of such diverse traditions, cultures, and philosophies that banks so heavily on polarizing identity politics is bound to make way for incomprehensible caste conundrum ciphered legibly by master strategists to come out with a winning formula. The beauty of our electoral processes is that the country is perpetually in the poll mode since one or the other elections are underway throughout the year.
PC: Ciel Regis
- The recently concluded state assembly elections are a pointer of how polls are conducted even when the pandemic’s second wave is devastating the country. Alongside state elections, significantly crucial panchayat elections too were conducted in the single most important state of the country, Uttar Pradesh. The significance of the Hindi heartland state cannot be emphasized further since any churnings here has a bearing on the national political scenario for the largest state holds the key to who forms the union dispensation. In this scenario, the UP panchayat polls have thrown a noteworthy scenario as the Samajwadi Party, the principal opposition party, returned handsome gains probably indicating some winds of change.
- Of course, the panchayat polls are traditionally not fought on party lines but it is a known fact that party-backed candidates fight for positions at the grassroots level. The SP’s notable gains may not immediately spell trouble to the BJP’s Yogi Adityanath led government but there is no denying the fact that anti-incumbency may be at play against the saffron brigade. The unraveling pandemic scenario placing teeming thousands of infected patients may pose uncomfortable questions to the ruling party. The assembly election to UP is due next year and the BJP would wish to course correct to remain competitive enough to win a second term. The SP could be in with a real chance if it plays its cards resourcefully and tactfully.
