It will be an understatement to say that the Bharatiya Janata Party has won and the Congress has lost the 2014 lok Sabha election. But it will not be an exaggeration to say that the BJP has swept the poll and the Congress has been decimated. Over the next few days, both these parties will be analysing the results in detail and hopefully learning precious lessons from them. For now, it must be said that Mr Narendra Modi has propelled the BJP to an unprecedented massive win (with the BJP-led NDA being on course to a historic figure as well) while Mr Rahul Gandhi has led the Congress to its most humiliating defeat to date (with the Congress-led UPA plummeting to a new low). While there are many messages, hidden and overt, in the decisive electoral verdict, the most important among them is that people across the country have voted against the perpetuation of dynasty politics and the non-performance of the Congress-led UPA2 regime, and in favour of a strong and stable Government. This at least is obvious to all except the Congress's leaders who, stunned and disoriented by the debilitating blow they have received, continue to hold on to the precarious view that neither Ms Sonia Gandhi nor Mr Rahul Gandhi can be held responsible for the debacle. Mr Gandhi especially had been the face of the party in the election campaign and was expected to become the Prime Minister in case the Congress-led UPA had won. Since the party fought and lost the election under his leadership, the result is an emphatic rejection by the voters of the country of his failed leadership.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for all her whirlwind tours across the country accompanied by the charm-baggage of the Nehru-Gandhi name, could not stave off the calamity. It is clear that the family talisman no longer works, since the combined might of mother-son-daughter failed to convince the voters to endorse the dynasty for a third term. Congress leaders have been at pains to remind the media that the results are not an adverse reflection on Mr Gandhi because he was never the party's prime ministerial candidate. By that logic, they must admit that the BJP's victory is a positive reflection on Mr Modi's leadership skills, because he was that party’s prime ministerial candidate. In any case, the Congress cannot get away with these technical explanations.
If Congress leaders have been struggling to protect the party's first family in the face of the electoral rout, they have made themselves an object of further ridicule by claiming that the verdict is not a rejection of the UPA2 regime which, in their opinion, had performed creditably. They may hold on to this view, but the people do not — and that's what matters. Voters, especially the young, first-timers, were disgusted with nearly everything that the outgoing Government came to represent: Policy paralysis; corruption; weak leadership; the absence of accountability; the arrogance of rulers; the economic mess; the perpetuation of a dual power centre — and much more. They were waiting for a credible alternative figure around which they could gravitate in protest. And they found that figure in Mr Modi after the BJP announced him as its prime ministerial candidate. The six months that followed after that announcement changed the face of the poll battle and catapulted Mr Modi to a pre-eminent position in the hearts and minds of the people, even in those parts of the country where the presence of the BJP had traditionally been weak.
Contrary to the image of a divisive leader that Mr Modi's critics and political opponents have propagated about him, the next Prime Minister of the country has ended up uniting large sections of voters in their resolve to vote in the BJP and vote out the Congress. In States such as Uttar Pradesh, his campaign managed to dent even long-held caste combinations that have allowed regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to hold sway despite their pathetic performance in matters of governance. The BJP's overwhelming victory in the lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh — at the cost of the two regional parties, not to speak of the Congress — was waiting to happen; the people were desperate for another option in the form of a leader they could trust to bring about real change from the vote-bank politics that not just the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party but even the Congress has practised.
Of course, credit for the BJP's stellar performance in the State which sends the largest number of MPs to the lok Sabha also goes in large measure to the party's in-charge of the State and Mr Modi's confidant, Mr Amit Shah, who created magic there with his organisational skills and deft exploitation of the people’s anger with the SP, the BSP and the Congress-led UPA. The win, incidentally, means that both Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ms Mayawati are under siege, and the next Assembly election to the State could see a change as dramatic as the one we are witness to now.
If the Congress's defeat reflects the voters' anger over the party-led Government's non-performance at the Centre, the BJP's victory demonstrates the people's endorsement of Mr Modi's brand of politics of truly inclusive development and empowerment without falling in the trap of vote banks. His invocation of the Gujarat Model of growth found resonance among the vast masses of the voters who in their respective States have been struggling to access even the most basic of amenities such as power supply, roads and quality healthcare and education. This is especially true of rural India which has been under the charm of regional, casteist parties. Besides, the voters found it easier to trust Mr Modi when he promised a change for the better, because he had approached with a track record of good governance in Gujarat since 2002.
While the lotus bloomed all over and the Hand limped to a state of lifelessness, the Aam Aadmi Party's Broom failed to sweep, even in regions where the AAP had hoped to do well. It's true that the party has managed a few seats in Punjab, but it has been routed elsewhere, including in its stronghold, Delhi. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal faced a massive defeat in Varanasi where he had pitted himself against Mr Modi and had as a consequence grabbed media headlines disproportionate to his stature. He must at least now realise that his cheap politics of hurling baseless but serious allegations against rivals and basking in the ensuing publicity has been rejected by the voters.