Landslide win gives India PM Modi chance to push agenda

As India celebrated the Hindu Holi festival on Monday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revelled in its spectacular win in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state legislative assembly elections, the most crucial since it won the 2014 general election.

Riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s super wave, the party won 312 of the state’s 403 seats.

Along with allies, the number went up to 325. The numbers mean that the remaining two years of the current government will see bolder initiatives.

The government is likely to relaunch Modi’s campaign against illegal wealth. After demonetisation of high value currencies, the next focus may be on the implementation of ‘benami’ (illegal) property law.

Also PM Modi may now choose to amend contract labour factory laws, allowing more mobility of labour. He may push for the acceleration of governance reforms, particularly in the use of Unique Identification (UID) ‘Aadhaar’ number

The new arithmetic would create a fertile situation for the government to pass legislations. The Modi government is likely to frame many of the controversial bills such as Aadhaar Act 2016, and Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2016,” political commentator Ashok Lahiri told Gulf News.

The results are seen as a referendum for Modi’s notes ban last year.

Modi was the face of BJP’s campaign, with the party choosing not to project a chief ministerial (CM) candidate, and seeking votes based on the PM’s policies.

According to political commentators, the poll outcome will lead to reforms gaining momentum owing to improved coordination between the Centre and states.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s prospect of getting its candidate elected as the next president of the country has increased manifold with its victory in UP and Uttarakhand.

The presidential election is due in July when incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee completes his five-year term.

With the NDA winning 325 of the 403 seats in UP, 57 of the 70 seats in Uttarakhand, 30 seats in Manipur, 18 in Punjab and 13 in Goa, the alliance has dramatically reduced its gap to the halfway mark of the 549,442 votes in the electoral college (EC) that elects the president.

The total strength of the EC is 1,098,882 votes. After the BJP’s clean sweep in UP, its strength in the EC soared to 433,182. With the allies the number stands at 524,920.

BJP’s Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) membership from UP is also likely to soar.

At present, BJP has just three members in the Rajya Sabha from UP, even though the state sends 31 members to the Upper house, the highest in the 245-member legislative body.

Currently, BJP has 56 members in Rajya Sabha, a number that’s just three below the Congress’ strength at 59 members.

With a majority in UP, BJP would be able to send a handful of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Rajya Sabha, in addition to the new members who would be nominated in 2018, about 11.

Knowing that his decisions will not be challenged much, Modi will now have to worry less about mollifying disgruntled MPs.

After the UP poll results, many believe that Modi’s win in the next Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) elections is certain.

“Given the drubbing the Congress and regional parties received in UP elections, nothing can really stop PM Modi now. The UP elections were the semi-final for the next Lok Sabha elections,” Lahiri added.

BJP President Amit Shah has already said the massive victories in Uttarakhand and UP were an approval of Modi’s pro-poor policies and an indication of their sureshot victory in 2019 national polls.

“These results have taken the BJP two steps ahead. Prime Minister Modi’s two-and-a-half-year-old government has been a government of the poor, Dalits, tribals and farmers,” Shah said on Monday.

“People have expressed complete faith in Modi’s leadership. The win in UP is bigger than our victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. We will definitely get a bigger mandate in 2019,” he added.

He said the victory march of BJP will now reach Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and will further enter the eastern and southern parts of the country.

The Hindu fundamentalist outfit Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) main ideologue, M.G. Vaidya, told Gulf News that the landslide victory in UP was a vote for the construction of the Ram temple.

“The BJP-led NDA government should introduce a law for Ram temple construction if the Supreme Court fails to resolve the issue. BJP’s win in UP reflects backing by the voters of the state for building a Ram temple,” Vaidya said.

BJP ally Shiv Sena has also congratulated the party for its stunning victory in UP, saying it hoped the Ram temple would be constructed soon.

“The legislative assembly results in five states are out, we welcome the BJP’s win,” Sena MP Sanjay Raut told Gulf News.

“We also congratulate the prime minister on this victory. [The deity] Ram’s period of exile has ended. We now hope the Ram temple will be constructed soon in Ayodhya,” he added

source : gulfnews