GUWAHATI: Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, might be patting his own back for winning the panchayat polls but the 2019 Lok Sabha elections might not be a cakewalk for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP performed poorly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and the nation believes that “Pappu” (as Congress President Rahul Gandhi is fondly trolled on social media) can not only dance but make others dance too.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) spokesperson Rituparna Konwar said, “Congress is set to perform better during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls; the BJP won the panchayat elections only because the ruling party is in power in the state and they came up with many schemes and packages for the rural areas just before the polls.” He expressed that in the 2013 panchayat elections, when Congress was in power, the party received more than 80% vote share which has not happened with the BJP now. BJP, according to Konwar, received only around 50% vote share and in 2013 it only had around 15% vote share.
Talking to Guwahatians, it has come to light that the Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) Wave is gradually decreasing as people are unhappy with the BJP government for various reasons.
A businessman based in Fancy Bazar, who is also a BJP leader, talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity said, “The business class is unhappy with the BJP government as the market is witnessing an unprecedented recession.” He expressed that the sales has taken a dip and the price of commodities is increasing. In the last four years the business class has only “suffered” with moves like demonetisation, unplanned Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation and too much interference in people’s life, the BJP leader said.
A city-based businessman, Kedar Nath, said that after the defeats in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP should understand that the people are not happy. Nath said, “In 2014 and 2016 my entire family voted for BJP but in 2019 I might not.” Enquiring about the reason, he said, “I have become virtually bankrupt over the last 4 years.” Nath has a transportation business which was doing pretty well till 2014. But in the last four years he has come into huge debts and he claimed that it is all because of the various BJP government decisions.
Along with these there are issues in the state like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 and to consider the latest situation in the country, even a top official like Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Urjit Patel, has resigned being clearly unhappy with the BJP government.
Citing personal reasons however, Urjit Patel had resigned as the Reserve Bank of India governor. His resignation came against the backdrop of increasing tensions between the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India. Urjit Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th Governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure for a governor since 1992.
He was hand-picked by the BJP-led government after his predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, was denied a second term.
Even the Hindu groups are not content with the BJP government as many Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members left and joined Antrarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) which will soon announce a political party. A Guwahati-based source in AHP said, “The new political party will field candidates for member of parliament (MP) elections against the BJP across the country in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. So the BJP needs to really give a relook at its strategy before the 2019 elections besides shedding any complacency that might have set in.
