Time for governance

The results of elections to five State assemblies should put to rest doubts, if there were any, on the decline of the Congress as a national party. The party was voted out of power in two States — Assam and Kerala — and failed to make any impact in two others where incumbent chief ministers have returned to power — West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Emerging as the largest single party in Puducherry where it has bagged half of the 30 seats in the Assembly must be small consolation to a party that barely a decade ago counted almost two dozen States in its kitty. That position has clearly reversed now, with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance surging forward leaving just half-a-dozen States in the control of the grand old party.

If the inexorable decline of the Congress is the first takeaway from this election season, the second is the corresponding rise of the BJP which appears determined to make its slogan of ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ a reality. The saffron party’s show with alliance partners in Assam where it has captured power for the first time is impressive but equally so is its performance in West Bengal and Kerala, where it will have a representative in the Assembly for the first time. The BJP’s vote share of 10.6 per cent is higher than the CPI’s 8.2 per cent and puts it in the third place after the CPI (M) and Congress. In West Bengal as well, it has grabbed three seats with a 10.2-per cent share of the votes. The BJP’s agenda of development and corruption-free governance continue to resonate though communal politics in West Bengal might have played a role too. Meanwhile, J Jayalalithaa may have created history in Tamil Nadu becoming the first chief minister to be voted back since her mentor MG Ramachandran in 1984 but she will have to reckon with a much stronger Opposition compared to her last term. The fractured Opposition seems to have helped the AIADMK combat the anti-incumbency factor with the anti-AIADMK votes getting split. The other CM to beat anti-incumbency, Mamata Banerjee, has decimated the CPM which might find it difficult to re-emerge from the ashes. The party can console itself though with its win in Kerala which ensures that it has a toe-hold in the country’s politics.

The underlying message from the voter in all these States, though, is clear. Voters have signalled their impatience with the endless cycle of scams and corruption scandals gripping the polity. Instead, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of ‘achhe din’ — better days of faster growth and better governance — which has resonated with the electorate and driven the surge in the BJP’s popularity. The five new governments assuming power in the States need to absorb this message, as does the Modi government at the Centre. The time for promises is over. It is time now to deliver.