Regional Parties Are The Real Winners In India’s Recent Assembly Elections

0
165

By Dr. Sawraj Singh

I am really surprised to see the efforts by some circles to present the BJP as the real winner in the recent assembly elections. It is very difficult to comprehend the basis for such claim. Out of the five states, the BJP only won in Assam. In the other four states, its performance can be called very poor. To me, the results are so obvious and clear that there is no room for misinterpretation. When someone tries to deny the obvious, then not only it shows detachment from reality, it also gives the impression that they are not serious and sincere about learning from reality. If the BJP really wants to improve its performance, then it should learn from both good and bad outcomes, instead of trying to pass a bad outcome as a good outcome. When I see some of the BJP circles celebrating the results as a pro-BJP verdict by the people, I have difficulty understanding on what basis they are making such claim. It is an insult to the average person’s intelligence when he wonders that what are they seeing which he is missing. In a way, it shows disrespect for the people.

I feel that neither the BJP nor the Congress did well in these elections. To me, the real winners are the regional parties. In West Bengal and in Tamil Nadu, this is very obvious. However, even in Kerala, the victory of the left also fits in this pattern. The victory of the left in Kerala is not a part of the left doing well in the country, but it is also dependent upon the regional factors. Last year, when we were in Kerala, our tour guide, who was a rather apolitical man, told us that many people in Kerala perceive the Communists as the defenders and protagonists of the state’s interest. Clearly, the victory of the left can be called a regional trend in Kerala and it does not reflect on the left’s overall condition in the country. They did not even do well in West Bengal.

All of the national parties are not doing too well. The BJP, the Congress and the leftist parties have not shown an impressive performance. Even where they succeed, that is generally dependent upon regional factors; either they have an alliance with a regional party or they are perceived as more of a regional rather than national party. A few examples of this phenomenon can be given:

·         The BJP is perceived as more of a regional party in some of the Hindi-speaking states.

·         The leftists were mostly seen as more of a regional party in West Bengal and to some extent, are perceived the same way in Kerala now.

·         The AAP, led by Kejriwal, is perceived more of a regional party in Delhi and Punjab than a true national party.

The national parties have generally not fully accepted the multicultural and multinational reality of Indian society. Many states in India, with their different languages, are different cultural entities and can also be considered different nations. The peculiarity of the Indian subcontinent is that we are bound together by a common civilization. The principle of unity in Diversity is most suitable for the Indian reality. Any attempts to impose unity from the top can meet resistance of the local people. Therefore, true unity can be achieved by finding the common thread and then evolving to the unity. This principle of unity in Diversity is very well illustrated in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. In whichever language Sri Guru Granth Sahib has been translated, the people there can very well relate to the concept of unity in Diversity.

If the national parties can grasp the concept of unity in Diversity, then they can appreciate the difference between imposed unity and evolved unity. The British tried to impose unity for their specific needs, their administrative convenience and their trade needs. Our national parties should really give up the approach of the British colonialists. Evolved unity respects the differences among the people, whereas imposed unity tries to negate these differences. In the end, all political parties in India should try to fully understand and appreciate the concept of unity in Diversity.

Generally, the role of the regional parties is clearer to the people. This is the main factor for their success. The national parties have not been able to achieve that degree of clarity yet. The BJP is still perceived is a regional party of the Hindi-speaking states. Therefore, generally, it had more success in the Hindi-speaking states. However, it has not done well in the non- Hindi speaking states. The Congress party, in spite of the set-backs, still comes closer to a national party. It clearly showed that it still retains significant influence in the non-Hindi speaking states also. However, both the BJP and the Congress party did not do as well as the regional parties in this election.

The national and the regional parties both have a role to play. The regional parties should focus on the peculiarities of the regions, and the national parties should try to address the generalities and the commonalities among the people of the different regions. Wherever an alliance between a regional and a national party was closer to this general principle, it had at least some success. In Punjab, the alliance between the Akalis and the BJP is holding mainly because of this reason.

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].