Claiming that there is no “anti-Modi” sentiment, an editorial in RSS mouthpiece Organiser, in reference to the recent Assembly polls, says that the BJP was caught up in the problematic turf of false narratives on the reservation issue and anger from both sides. “Though some people have already started projecting this as the beginning of the end of the Modi government and some calling it the victory of Rahul Gandhi, in reality, the election results have posed more questions to the political parties, pollsters and us as a nation. Whether the respective parties, pundits and ‘we the people’ are ready to read the message beyond numbers for the future course of democracy is critical,” the editorial reads. It says that the message (of the results) for the BJP was more complicated, but still clear. “After the strong anti-incumbency and fake narratives, the way BJP almost pulled off Madhya Pradesh and the way they recovered in Rajasthan, clearly shows that there is no anti-Modi sentiment,” it reads. “The agrarian distress is real, but if it was the main reason behind this verdict, then the BJP could not have registered victory in almost fifty per cent rural constituencies. The BJP was caught up in the problematic turf of false narratives on the reservation issue and faced anger from both sides.” It says the losses of the BJP in the stronghold of Shekhavati region of Rajasthan, Mahakaushal of Madhya Pradesh and central Chhattisgarh give some indications. “The anti-BJP votes got consolidated in favour of the Congress while the pro-BJP votes remained silent,” it reads. “PM Modi and his development policies are indeed the vote catchers for the BJP, but the glue that binds the core is Hindutva. The core ideological plank becomes all the more critical when the Congress is trying to shed away its ‘secular’ and ‘pro-minority’ image by playing the counter version of ‘Hinduism’. The real challenge for the BJP is how to present the development and Hindutva as complementary to each other under the leadership of Modi,” it says. An editorial in Panchjanya says, “.Ram temple, gauvansh (cow), Article 370 and 35 A— they may not be issues of development but they are integral parts of BJP’s manifesto with which sentiments of BJP supporters are deeply connected.”
