This refers to the article, “looking ahead, with battle close to ending” (May 2) by Kalyani Shankar. The story of the surprise defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 has been said many times. The party was so confident of a victory that it decided to go it virtually alone. This was a mistake. But history does not always repeat itself.
Many things are different today from 2004. The electorate has connected the dots between poor growth, corruption and a grid-locked Government. let's set that aside and ask a principled question: Why should the BJP ally itself with feckless regional parties like the Trinamool Congress and the AIADMKIJ The party's cadre would have been disheartened if that had happened before the election. BJP workers might not switch their votes to the Congress; they just would not have showed up. That is the risk in diluting one's political identity and values. Indians are not voting for a Hindu nationalist party. We are voting for our emancipation.