The Indian general election spread over a month is finally over. The result is something that the pollsters had forecast earlier, and Modi who in 2016 had announced demonetization and the BJP have romped home with a massive mandate. The election was significant as it marked the consolidation of the Hindutva ethos over India as the BJP. One of the path-breaking election contest was at Bhopal. This is a significant seat in Central India and has been held by the BJP since 1989. This time the Congress assuming they had their own government in power in MP, fielded Digvijay Singh from this seat.
Digvijay Singh is anathema to the BJP which has been riled by his comments against "Hindu terror." In style, Yahoo has reported that the BJP this time decided to take on the "Hindu terror" narrative head-on and fielded Sadhvi Pragya Thakur as its candidate from Bhopal to confront Digvijay Singh. She had been accused of terror activities and is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast.
Contest
The contest turned out to be a one-sided affair, and Digvijay Singh wrote his own political obituary as he lost the election to the 49-year-old Sadhvi by over 350,000 votes. There has been some outcry from a few people about a controversial reference by Sadhvi about Nathuram Godse. She had referred to the assassinator of Mohan Das Gandhi as a "patriot".
People assumed that this remark would cost Sadhvi Pragya her seat in the constituency. Shethe people Tv has reported that social media psephologists have massively misread the sensibilities of the general population who were not concerned about the remark of Sadhvi Pragya. To the surprise of many, the Sadhvi has been voted in with a massive mandate.
Victory
The victory proves that many in India feel Gandhi and the Congress party is responsible for many of the ills that afflict India today. The BJP is talking of a renaissance, and this has appealed to the core Hindu voter. It is worth pointing out that for 900 years of Muslim rule, the Hindus were second class citizens and paid the Jizzia tax to survive.
It was only with the advent of the British Raj that this obnoxious tax was banned. The Raj restored Hindu pride, and thus the All India movement for freedom took shape.
Bhopal has a high rate of literacy and also a sizeable Muslim population. But with the polarisation of votes on religious lines, Digvijay Singh's past statements caught up with him and he was defeated. In contrast, there was exuberance in the BJP camp with Sadhvi Pragya striking a chord with the Hindu voters. She has thus been voted to victory.
Last word
The BJP has bettered its 2014 record by over 20 seats and Modi has an unassailable majority. The Congress which came to be identified as a party that appeases minorities did its cause no good by soft-pedalling issues like a common civil code and Article 370 on Kashmir.
Digvijay represented the past, which is now no longer passe while Sadhvi Pragya represented the future. True, a few were disturbed after her remark on Godse, but then it cannot be denied that Godse for many Hindus is a patriot, especially who have seen the horrors of partition in 1947.
