Eight years ago, when Amit Shah went to Uttar Pradesh as a BJP general secretary, he worked his magic to help the party win 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. In 2017, as BJP president, he guided it to 312 out of 403 assembly seats. In the coming assembly polls, the home minister has picked the toughest assignment for himself— western Uttar Pradesh and Braj.
The electoral performance in western Uttar Pradesh, dominated by farming communities—especially the Jats—was key to the party’s success in both 2014 and 2017. But, the farmers’ protest changed things. Farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, perhaps inspired by the strategy of their counterparts in Punjab, were not allowing party leaders to campaign in their villages.
In view of the resilience of the agitation, the BJP has made a strategic retreat by announcing that the three contentious farm laws would be repealed. Earlier, too, the Modi government has shown that it weighs in the political cost of its policy decisions.
For instance, it went back on the land acquisition ordinance in 2015. It also made changes to the GST before the last assembly polls in Gujarat, to counter the anger among traders. With regard to the farm laws, BJP leaders said that “Hindu-Sikh unity” coming under threat weighed on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mind. “As the PM said, we tried to convince people, but we could not do so,” said Sardar R.P. Singh, BJP national spokesperson. “People were misled that their land would be taken by Adanis and Ambanis. We could not let [the situation in] Punjab go back to [the unrest in the] the 1980s and 1990s.”
Esta historia es de la edición December 05, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición December 05, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
