Vivekanand Jha Ranchi: With the passing of every single day, the public excitement in the upcoming election is reaching crescendo. Whereas BJP appears gung ho, especially in the context of the politicians from Trinamool making a beeline to join Modi bandwagon, the battle between Mamata and Modi is reaching its climax. Interestingly, none of the stakeholders, cutting across the party lines, are leaving any stone unturned to contribute to winning of their candidates, yet this election has something very special to offer: If Mamata wins-there is an immense likelihood of the same, notwithstanding the pitching in of so called Secular front -Mamata’s emergence as an alternate to Modi, assumes special significance if she can upset BJP’s applecart.
Moreover, rallying of rudderless opposition behind Mamata, is the growing vindication of the fact that the opposition, as well as the nation, is looking up to Mamata to demolish BJP’s hubris; stop its Aswamedha horse. Regrettably, with the institutional decline having reached its zenith, the judiciary too appears the pale shadow of its self, India today appears as weak as never before. Against such backdrop, if Mamata stands defeated, India’s inevitable march towards totalitarianism will be almost reaching its flash point.
Ironically, India’s purported robust democracy, appears in tatters today, with all constitutional safeguards being put to abeyance; in fact, Indian democracy, apparently with a robust check and balance, appears as fragile as that of neighbouring Nepal which appears to have been hijacked by K.P.Oli’s personal whims and fancy. Oli, sitting comfortably perched in his nest while the democracy is crying for its breathing space. Not much different from Nepal, India’s inevitable march towards authoritarianism, is simply waiting to happen if the last few opposition bastions too fell to menacing gesticulations from 56 inch chest. It is here the coming together of opposition like Uddhav Thackray, Tejaswi, Akhilesh and others are praiseworthy. Yashwant, even though an octogenarian, needs to derive an inspiration from Sreedharan, to act as a pivot for the unity of the opposition forces.
Whereas the stark fact too cannot be denied that Mamata too is not a holy cow, yet she is the remnant of the last hope for Indian democracy to keep itself vibrant. On the other hand, if Mamata stands defeated, which may be a possibility now, in view of the latest churning out -floating of Secular Front, which will surely bite into Mamata’s vote bank-BJP’s sense of Deja vu, as it has been experiencing in other states, is increasingly becoming ostensible. Today, what Bal Gangadhar Tilak had said almost a century ago, ‘ What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow’, becomes more critical because it is West Bengal which is yet again, in all certainty, has to guide the nation the political turn it is expected to take: whether Indian democracy will continue to retain its democratic semblance, or inevitably march towards the impending totalitarianism. However, there is no ambiguity on one point: If Didi wins, the likelihood of which is greater, Modi will have a serious challenger in Didi in 2024 General election, and opposition will not appear as rudderless as it appears today.
Vivekanand Jha
