Mee Punha Yein

Year 1980, Bharatiya Janata Party’s first president, Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee thundered the prophetic and magnetic words, “Andhera Chhatega, Sooraj Niklega, Kamal Khilega”

Year 1984, post Indira Gandhi assassination, Rajiv romped home with over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha; BJP opens account with 2 - Dr. AK Patel from Mehsana, Gujarat and Chandupatla Ranga Reddy from Hanamkonda, AP; both get mocked by the ruling dispensation on the floor of the house, “Hum do Humare do”.

The early 1990s, the immortal Raam Mandir movement reaches an emotional crescendo and BJP crosses 100 LS seats for the first time; the late 1990s saw Atal-ji being sworn in multiple times as the PM eventually managing to lead a coalition government into the new millennium.

The mid-2000s saw the fall of the Vajpayee government in spite of improved economic parameters, tremendous scientific & infrastructural progress (who can forget Pokhran and National Highway expansions?) as the Congress Ecosystem managed to best the gentle giant; Narendra Modi is watching and learning – noting down the mistakes that should not be repeated.

Year 2014, the culmination of the wishes of a great and ancient nation coupled with the pain of the dark decade – Narendra Modi becomes the 2^nd BJP leader to take charge as the Prime Minister of India with a thumping single-party majority; by year 2017, the party is ruling 71% of the land mass and 69% of the population.

Year 2019, Narendra Modi does an encore crossing the most coveted and cherished triple-century Bhaarat celebrated immediately followed by the fulfillment of two long standing manifesto promises – abrogation of article 370 and the commencement of a King’s return to his Kingdom of Ayodhya!

Cut to today with the following image circulated in social and mainstream media with hysteric glee and unsavoury captions:

I honestly welcome such mockery as nothing sparks a sleeping man to action like a douse of cold water or the burn from a lighted matchstick! Every process in life is part of a wave or a cycle – you go up, you come down – why should this be any different? Unlike the Congress which was handed the entire country and control on a platter after 1947, BJP has had to work very hard and very diligently against an entrenched and powerful ecosystem to mark its rise, stay in power and govern with aplomb – nothing came easy. The BJP is accustomed to be the wear and tear of the road & the hut as against the comforts of the palace and this is what ensures that the fundamentals stay intact – in victory or in defeat.

Specifically coming to Maharashtra where we got a new CM today (though I am not his supporter, I genuinely pray he performs well and the state prospers), it is natural to feel disheartened, disillusioned and disappointed; it is natural to feel betrayed and lost (especially if you voted for the Sonia Sena just because the erstwhile Shiv Sena was BJP’s partner). It is again natural to question the electoral process and the value of your vote (here is hoping to electoral reforms like RtR and binding covenants to pre-poll alliances); it is also natural to be dejected and claim to not vote again altogether; however, a simple heartfelt enquiry – what will that achieve? Will that resolve all the pain, the sadness and the hurt or will it further bolster those who inflicted that pain & hurt to begin with?

I am once again reminded of what morality is, "It is the choice to determine how much dirt one allows on one's hand, it is never about clean hands." Yes, BJP did make an immoral choice to align with Ajit Pawar and was left with an egg on its face when the man double crossed them; however, I respect them for braving being fooled in a bid to ensure that the people of Maharashtra get continuity in leadership and progress after seeing the troika of SS-I(A)NC-NCP actually positioning themselves to bid for the state. Fadnavis took a very gutsy call and only a pure heart can have that conviction that his intentions won't be misunderstood even if the action might be tainted in itself!

There was a time when I was concerned about the vagaries of the average BJP voter; my concern has vanished after the events of the past few weeks in Maharashtra - I have seen the BJP finally break through the shackles called “party with a difference” or rather, released from! This single phrase and the pressure of living up to it had always limited us in our actions. This was the phrase that prevented the BJP from answering its opponents in a language the opponents understood. This single phrase ensured the BJP accommodating more than it should enabling the Sonia Sena to run amok over the past five years. Uddhav Thackerey’s oath ceremony today should finally cut the strings and set the BJP and its core voters free from the exorbitant self-expectations arising from the perimeter fence called “party with a difference”. The transition from the “party with a difference” to “party making the difference” should accelerate beyond today because nothing hurts the very core than a betrayal of a friend or family; we knew them to be mercurial but to actually transcend that and sit in the opposition camp – that is liberation at a whole new fantastic level. From today, we’ll see the addition of greater perspective and higher perseverance as the voter gets to clearly see the minefield of politics like never before. By and large, neither the BJP nor its core voter will insist on irrelevant personal morality in public life.

I go back to how I started this blog – we commenced our journey from zero, rose till 71% and have come down again to 40%-odd today - in this whole process, out of the four states that we lost, two (Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh) witnessed fairly intact vote shares, one (Chattisgarh) had always been decided on faint margins but we ended up losing pretty badly and the last (Maharashtra) was never lost electorally, only politically. This implies that the map space lost, is indeed within sight to regain. Additionally so, ever time the opposition has ganged up on BJP, it has made tactical & strategic adjustments leading to further evolution that has enabled it to return to power - Bihar and Karnataka are prime state examples and what better than UP during LS 2019! The debriefing will happen, causes will be discovered and fixes will be applied!

The Hindu didn’t given up when that whole damn map was steeped in green facing the torture of Islamic invaders and the Hindu didn’t give up when the map was blue & red with the colours of the Union Jack! The Hindu also didn’t give up while Nehruvian Socialism ran the country dry eventually handing over the reins of a beautiful, culturally diverse and a magnanimous nation into the hands of the Italian Mafia and their Chrislamocommie brethren. We have a knack of surviving Jaichands - one more so now and many more so to come and the Hindu will thrive in spite of them all! A re-election is on the horizon and it will take the collective mettle and efforts of swayamsevaks & karyakartas to keep communicating across the wide Sanghatan!

The importance of food is established through the pangs of hunger, the value of wealth is highlighted by the struggles in poverty and the significance of light is validated by the existence of darkness! Today is a day to celebrate as the Sonia Sena or the erstwhile Shiv Sena has broken the locks on the vast cage called “party with a difference”; the phoenix shall truly rise from the ashes, burst free of the cage and soar into the skies - to adapt and to adjust to the ebb & flow of the environment and to reassess, realign, redesign, reenact and reclaim! #MeePunhaYein

Jai Hind!