A Prime Minister who made a weak India strong and a humbled India proud after 76 years of Independence

Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so. —Charles de Gaulle

Looking back at the Lok Sabha election of 2024 and its result, it is clear both the Ruling Party BJP (National Democratic Alliance – NDA) and the Opposition (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance – I.N.D.I.A) are back in their respective pre-election chairs in the Lok Sabha. But with a difference.

While BJP (NDA) returned to power with a smaller margin, the Opposition (I.N.D.I.A) returned to Lok Sabha with a greater margin. Lord Rama of Ayodhya and Lord Shiva of Varanasi seem to be unhappy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for NOT resurrecting them to their satisfaction from the centuries of neglect and desertion by their Bhaktas.

This surprise result could be a warning from these Godheads to Modi (like the Semitic Gods) to complete the task of total restoration. Hence, despite reduced number of his men in the Lok Sabha and despite Modi himself winning by a lesser margin, these Sanatana Gods, in the vanguard of a Hindu’s life, gave Modi one more chance to fulfil the aspirations of their Bhaktas.

In the present political ecosystem, the general perception is that when we say the Ruling Party it means Modi and when we say Opposition Party it is Rahul Gandhi. Now, BJP, NDA and Modi, have secured reduced share of votes than in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections despite the confidence of achieving 400 paar for NDA and greater margin of winning votes to Modi. But, the Congress, I.N.D.I.A (earlier UPA) and Rahul Gandhi, as per their bombast, secured greater share of votes than in 2014 and 2019.

In this scenario, there is a hurried, high-octane study on Why and How of this kind of utterly unexpected, shocking and disquieting outcome for Modi and utterly butterly unexpected, delightful and soothing outcome for Rahul Gandhi by our Political Pundits.

As I know, these Political Pundits come in two categories. One, Political Science (!?) Professors from Leftist Universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi and non-Leftist Universities. Second, Journalists of the Left Orientation and Right Orientation.

Because of this ideological pre-meditation in their analysis, the credibility of their conclusions is suspect. However, in the following years we will see wonderful fire-works in the Lok Sabha between Modi and Rahul Gandhi with the latter providing some comic relief.

Modi has won this election for the straight third time. A hat-trick win. This has happened only once before in India’s history after independence when Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. Modi’s too is a similar hat-trick winner in an age of impossible politics all over the democratic world. Where great political leaders were rejected even after delivering great victory to their countries, our Modi has been welcomed in a country of 140 crore people with diversity in religion, caste, language and sub-national identities for a third term.

Modi, during his earlier two terms of five years each, served this nation like no one after Nehru. Our country was like a mighty ship caught in the rough seas, unstable and rocking precariously, making no progress. Modi steered it clear of the rough weather, fixed the cracks and chinks in the ship — Defence, Diplomacy, J&K Article 370, Terrorism, CAA 2019, halting illegal immigration, Triple Talaq Act, dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, Kashi Vishwanath Temple restoration, building new Parliament House, building Ayodhya Ram Mandir, not a single President’s Rule on States and more. Of course, in spite of this kind of governance par-excellence, at the end of the counting of votes in Varanasi, it was a face-saving result for Modi.

Imagine how Winston Churchill of England must have felt when his Conservative Party lost in the 1945 General Election after, he as Prime Minister during the years of World War-II (1940-45), delivering a stunning victory for his country?  Modi’s is real achievement in 2024.

Imagine, Charles de Gaulle, the saviour of France during World War-II, losing in 1953. But the nation in crisis wanted his service in 1958. He agreed to return on his own condition — to reform the Constitution.

Modi was returned to power in 2024, it seems, by providence to complete the work he could not complete in the past 10 years, some say.

A senior columnist, who is a newly minted Rajya Sabha Member, wrote now that the Opposition is back (with more numbers) the battle to restore Democracy, after 10 bruising years, must continue. What an inane, naive observation! Was there no Opposition in the past 10 years? A man with courage and knowledge is equal to an army. Which is why the epithet ‘One man army.’ A lone warrior. If he is eloquent in oratory, he will be as devastating as a fusillade of canons. Well, the Opposition is back in strength, so also Rahul Gandhi winning two seats with great margin of votes unlike poor Modi. And he will lead the “battle to restore  Democracy.”

The columnist does not understand that there is no work for Rahul Gandhi in Parliament anymore. This election has already restored the Democracy. One restores only what is destroyed. When the Parliament is alive, where is the question of restoring?

Yes, in 1975 this Parliament was destroyed by the ancestor of Rahul Gandhi and restored by Janata Party. Again, there are two categories of Opposition. One is constructive for which national interest comes first and on such issues may support the government. Second is destructive. Let us remember, no matter whatever the narrative of these Political Pundits about the 2024 Lok Sabha election, maintaining the Primacy of Parliament is equally in the hands of the Opposition.

Let us go back to the days of Nehru where there was not even an Opposition worth calling one. But there were stalwarts like Ram Manohar Lohia, Madhu Limaye, A.K. Gopalan, H.V. Kamath and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

Do we have that kind of Opposition members today? Let us find out when the Parliament meets from June 24.

e-mail: [email protected]