The BJP is Losing........

Results of LS 2009 elections dealt a body blow to what little hope the Hindu Right harbored to save their god forsaken country.  The gleeful expressions on faces of Congress' darbaris would come to haunt Hindus for the rest of their lives.  It was the lowest point for BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar.  The defeat was even greater than the shock defeat of 2004.  2009 meant Sonia's agenda was well established and India had irreversibly endorsed the path of pseudo secularism.  2009 was the culmination of a series of stumbles beginning with LKA's leftward shift to PramodM's assassination and its ugly fallout. 

India's Right Wing was truly and soundly defeated.  It would seem it was safe to assume that Congress and/or its many regional clones would extend their control over all levers of power and in due course of time decimate what little was left of India's Hinduness. 

But as Sonia and her darbaris celebrated one more foreign invader ruling over India, they missed two important facts.  

1) Though BJP+ was decimated, their vote bank was intact.  It hadnt switched sides.  
2) LKA's last hurrah would yield space to new leadership, untainted by the ghosts of the past, allowing BJP to unload its baggage and make a fresh start 

Watching the results of Haryana/MH coupled with the close call in Gujarat, one cant help but draw parallels between Congress' post 2009 smug arrogance and BJP's misplaced confidence circa 2019. 

All three states should be natural Hindutva strongholds.  MH and Haryana have strong local leaders with a spotless reputation. 

In all three states, Opposition was comatose with no real state leadership, massive infighting, weak or absent organization and most importantly no real agenda - positive or negative. 

Despite these headwinds faced by the opposition, BJP faced a close call in Haryana and in MH has come to depend on a schizophrenic ally.  

Something isnt adding up.  Lets try to make sense of it. 

1. BJP is NaMo and NaMo is BJP.  Though this works wonders in LS elections, eventually, the law of diminishing returns will kick in.  Two forces - if aligned at the right time - could dent NaMo's appeal:  
1. A clean leader rises up from within opposition ranks.  (Note:  Kejriwal had the potential to be such a clean leader, but he was too stupid and too infatuated with NaMo to ever pose a challenge - he's just not a 'Lambi race ka Ghoda') 
2.  A scandal close to NaMo's inner circle engulfs BJP - Jay Shah, for example, getting tainted by betting infested IPL
2. BJP's core support base may be driven by Hindutva agenda but the incremental vote which has propelled BJP to 303 LS seats is driven by economic concerns.
3. BJP has done a stellar job controlling inflation but an aspirational India is demanding more. 
4. BJP/NaMo are now competing with their own commitments and not the increasingly distant sins of Congress+
5. If an organizationally decimated Opposition could almost humble the BJP's well oiled electoral war machine, a close call in 2024 is a real possibility 
6. Having opposition ruled states undermines PM's agenda and makes the delivery of central schemes patchy at best (Ayushman Bharat for instance) 
7. BJP's good intentions are hurting the aam admi - even though they may be put in place to protect and benefit the aam admi.  New Road safety law is a great example.  Such schemes must be put in place after govt. has done its part of improving road conditions, installing road safety technology.  

Following are the some humble suggestions from someone who has never wavered in his belief in PM Modi. 

1. In the run up to 2007 Gujarat polls, then CM Modi made a verifiable pitch to Gujarati voters.  He said "on every corner of every village/city, you will see signs of development/progress.  A new bus stand, a freshly paved street, a new water connection, etc.  I'm bringing progress to your door step".  BJP has perfected booth level campaigning, it must now perfect booth level economic development.  
2. By its very nature, Prime Ministership requires its occupant to focus on the 'macro' and not get caught up in the 'micro'.  Macro policies aka attracting investment, improving ease of doing business, etc. should be the focus but PM Modi may run out of time waiting for benefits of these monumental structural shifts to trickle down to the aam admi.  The common man wants solutions now, he has waited 70 years.  There's no reason why macro and micro cannot go hand-in-hand or in parallel.  The two arent mutually exclusive.  
3. Focus on the basket.  The Modi sarkar needs to identify the top 5-10 items that every Indian needs and place a laser focus on them.  This is not to suggest that the 11 to 50 ranked items can be ignored.  But showing tangible progress on these fundamental items will go much further and cement their hold on power beyond the next election cycle. 
4. Go public with the mess in the banking sector.  Explain to the aam admi how India's preferred 'Business Model' was to set up companies only to use them as a ruse to bride bank officials and politicians to borrow large sums from public sector banks and then keep rolling the debt.  Take India into confidence on how real economic boom will be ushered in when this old Business model of loot is replaced with a real economic model based on fair and transparent policies

Hope BJP is still receptive to ideas/suggestions from its life long supporters.