Victory, defeat & vindication

A leader's charisma is a big plus. But don't underestimate the craft of mounting an election campaign. Haryana is BJP's reward for mastering it

- SHEKHAR GUPTA

The big headline from the twin verdicts on Tuesday is that it is a huge positive for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). There's redemption in victory, and vindication in defeat.

Redemption first. Haryana was the BJP's first test in its strongholds after the setback in June. It was widely expected by both its friends and foes that the party would find it impossible to win a third successive term. The BJP itself had hedged by not exposing Narendra Modi as the face of the campaign. A loss in Haryana would push it downhill from the edge where it was caught after this summer's general elections. The resounding Haryana win changes all that. That's redemption from the lows of June. It gives the leadership and the cadre new energy and washes away negativity. If you know this BJP, it will now go forward to Jharkhand and Maharashtra as if June 2024 never happened.

Here we list our three key takeaways from the BJP's remarkable victory: ■ A leader's popularity and charisma are a huge plus, but never underestimate the power of craft, the science and engineering in a campaign. Haryana is a reward for the BJP's brilliance at it. See the number of Independents fielded in most of the constituencies. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, for example, had seven Independents against her, most of them Jats. She won after a scare but many others didn't. In addition, check out the small coalitions: The senior Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal with Mayawati and the Jannayak Janta Party, led by the junior Chautala, Dushyant, with rising Dalit star Chandra Shekhar Azad. Any votes these unlikely Jat-Dalit coalitions got in a tight contest were at the Congress's cost. The BJP applied the lessons from its Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha debacle in Haryana.