Delhi elections: Did Narendra Modi's 'I, me, myself' style hurt the BJP?

What the Delhi poll outcome has confirmed is that the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP can be stopped in its tracks by a determined opponent even one not as wellentrenched as established regional parties like the AIADMK the Biju Janata Dal or the Trinamool Congress were in their respective states in last years general electionIn contrast to what happened in Tamil Nadu and the two other states the BJP has been routed in Delhi by an adversary like the Aam Admi Party AAP which entered the fray with a lot of baggage its hasty departure after 49 days in power in the capital last year the boastful assertion of anarchist tendencies by its leader Arvind Kejriwal and an economic outlook which ranged from being Left of Left to a claim of being sensitive to the concerns of traders since Kejriwal harked back to his bania trading community backgroundPrime MinisterNarendra Modi Pic PTIUnderstandably the BJP made full use of these deficiencies with Narendra Modi urging the AAP leader to join the Naxalites Maoists in the jungles since he is a selfproclaimed anarchist Earlier the prime minister had stressed the same point by designating Kejriwal as AK49 the automatic rifle that is a favourite of insurgentsTo buttress Modis offensive the BJP threw in nearly all its central ministers headed by Arun Jaitley and as many as 120 MPs into the campaign a classic case of a sledgehammer being used to swat a seeming flyBut the reason why none of it helped the ruling party at the centre will be palpable to any discerning observer Ever since Modia assumption of power last summer on the basis of heady rhetoric the ruling party has been all words and virtually no deeds Apart from scrapping the Planning Commission it has done precious little to fulfil its promises of a turnaround of the economy even if the initial signs are favourable considering that a seven percent growth is being forecastHowever as Tuesdays results show the socalled aspirational middle class has not been satisfied It is worth remembering that todays generation is far more impatient than their forbears They look for quick results and explanations that it takes time for the reforms to bear fruit are rejected as ineffectual quibblingBut an inability to show results on the economic front is not the only reason for the rebuff which the BJP has suffered after its triumph in the general election and the successive victories in Maharashtra Haryana and Jharkhand with the possibility that it might form a government in Jammu and Kashmir as well with the Peoples Democratic Front as a partnerOne explanation for the voters snub to the BJP in Delhi lies in its Achilles heel of communalism for large sections of the electorate must have been aghast that despite having come to power on the promise of development for all sabka saath sabka vikas the BJP was letting the saffron extremists including two of its MPs Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj to run amokApart from their divisive campaigns what has apparently hurt the BJP is Modis dangerous silence as the New York Times called it on these Hindu extremistsSince Modi is widely perceived as a strong leader the silence has been considered strange Even if he appears to have acted behind the scenes to rein in some of the hotheads in addition to telling the party members not to cross the Lakshman rekha a prescribed limit the apprehension among the minorities have not gone awayThere is little doubt that the AAP has been a major beneficiary of this unease not only among the Muslims but also the Christians who have been perturbed by the recent spate of attacks on churches in Delhi Since the Congress is virtually fading away from the electoral scene it could not avail of the minority votes which went to the AAPThe AAP also gained from the perception of its honesty Its worth recalling that the Indian voter has long been looking for a person of integrity at the top whether it was Mr Clean VP Singh in 1989 or Mr Cleaner Rajiv Gandhi in the first three years of his reignNow the AAP fits the bill especially in view of its success during its brief stint in power in curbing the police practice of collecting haftas or weekly allowances from petty traders and even threatening bigwigs the Ambani brothers were named if they insisted on high user charges on electricity and other amenitiesAll these assertions made with a touch of hauteur made the AAP a darling of the underclass With the minorities too in their catchment area and the middle class disappointed with the slow progress on the economic front the BJP was always fighting a losing battleBesides Modis I me myself style of governance may have begun to jar on the voter The party may have to become a great deal more moderate if it has to succeed in the next round of elections notably in Bihar Modis call to Kejriwal for a teteatete over tea chai pe charcha is probably a sign of the toning down of attitudesAs for the AAP it is too early to say now how it will fare outside Delhi considering that its fielding of 432 candidates in the last general election was something of a disaster since it could win only four seats But it may have learnt its lessons from that misadventure especially that governance matters and not a display of belligerence against all and sundry