Sir — By-election results are a signal that things are not going Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) way. In a sense, the results have ratified the show of Opposition unity in Bengaluru and given the leaders, holding hands and hugging at the time of HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in as the Karnataka Chief Minister, a reason to feel good. It is understandable that the BJP downplays the results by attributing them to local factors; the Opposition regards them as a reflection of the ‘national trend’. Perhaps BJP is in denial that support for it is fraying at the seams.
Whether it dawns on it or not, BJP stands no chance of romping home by relying on Hindu consolidation if a united Opposition fields common candidates to avoid a split in the secular vote. Opposition parties may have been driven by some sense of self-preservation. But to give them their due, they are rising to the challenge mounted by BJP to the country’s continued existence as a secular and pluralist democracy. Given its DNA, the BJP cannot adopt more inclusive strategies to do justice to India’s heterogeneous population.