This too shall pass...is it passing?

 Dear folks, 

             Iam typing in my favourite space after about 6 months. Of course,  no one would have missed my posts as everyone is too busy with the flow of their own lives!!! Without beating around the bush much, I will touch the topic I want to!!

              As the dust has settled down after the results of Indian elections were declared on June 4th, a lot of retrospect is still being done by the media, social media, aam janta on the nature of the results. I too did not believe in the power of the common man/woman before I saw the results.  Of course,  the BJP supported NDA has come to power the third time, but the difference is that BJP party couldn't cross the majority mark of 272 seats !

    

           This election was detrimental to the existence of declining democracy of India  as it was being almost killed over the past 10 years because of the brute majority of BJP party along with the cult persona of Shri Modiji who declared himself as the saviour of Hinduism! Except for the hard-core supporters and blind devotees (andhbhakts) of the ruling party, everyone else felt a sense of fear if they opened their mouth or criticised the ruling party. Under the veil of killing corruption ,  opposition people were jailed using enforcement directorate,  corrupt political leaders were bought,  many tv channels were bought to become lapdog (godi media) of the ruling party, journalists were jailed or eliminated mysteriously,  repeated attacks on minority groups through divisive and hate propaganda. People like me were advised by my "well-meaning" family and friends to think twice before expressing my views in social media platforms!! Such was the atmosphere of fear looming around in India, the mother of democracy! Views were/are deeply polarised that small talk of politics was enough to create rift and rupture between families and friends. When tv channels and other media were one sided and refused to show the ground realities,  many prominent YouTubers came to rescue. Influencers like Dhruv Rathee,  many news anchors who came out of tv channels and ran their own YouTube channels gained high jump in the viewership suggesting the shift and frustration among the people. YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee,  Ravish Kumar, Akash Banerjee (The Deshbhakt) were to some extent successful in influencing the younger generation and swing voters about how people were brainwashed from the real issues and the dangers of autocratic rule.  

                Some section of the population understood the dread behind slogans 'ab ki baar 400 paar', One nation one party one election,  Congress mukt Bharat,   the changing of constitution!! The defeat in UP proved that building Ram temple is not enough to keep Hindu votes intact!!  

             The election commission was cherry picked by the ruling party and so they acted like puppets. There were allegations that the exact number of people who voted in some constituencies were not released by election commission giving rise to some conspiracy theories. It is commendable that the opposition INDIA alliance was able to capture enough seats to prevent BJP party from crossing the majority mark and thus keeping the democracy alive with a strong opposition party.

           We need to wait and watch if opposition party stays strong enough by not fragmenting apart thus giving more room to the ruling party to act the way they want!! Indian voters have spoken more loudly than ever this time thus renewing the  faith in  elections which was diminishing. 

Deepa.