This refers to the editorial, “Web of alliances” (March 16). The successive by-election defeats of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Hindi heartland — first in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and now in Uttar Pradesh and to an extent in Bihar — point to a discernible disillusionment of voters with the party while also signifying a virtual end to the long honeymoon of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the electorate.
losing the lok Sabha by-elections to the seats vacated by the current Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of India's biggest State, less than a year after a resounding victory in State elections, is indeed a major setback for the BJP, particularly at the State level. Since the Modi tsunami in 2014, the BJP hasn't witnessed such a poll debacle. For the Opposition, the gain is less than symmetric. The BJP's triple loss takes away the sheen from its emphatic win in the North-East, particularly Tripura.
After all, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself had recently dubbed the Uttar Pradesh by-polls as “a dress rehearsal” for the next general election, a remark which he must be ruing now. Well, loose lips sink ships. What these results indicate is the Indian polity's ability to spring surprises, rather than any definite direction for 2019. As India prepares for the 2019 general election, the BJP has much ground to retrieve.