By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal

Indian politics is unpredictable like weather and more unpredictable than that are the voters. The ‘good days’ and almost unchallenged rule enjoyed by the party in power, may set soon in few stronghold states and erode a big chunk of vote share in Loksabha next year. In mainstream media, the recent nationwide strike called by groups from upper castes had to take a backseat in light of now legalized Gay Marriage in India. People had something new to share on WhatsApp and politicians forgot, for one more day, that they have promises to keep and the time to do so has already gone.

In bringing an amendment in parliament to bring back the clauses SC removed from SC/ST Atrocities act, the BJP may have angered its most dependable voters beyond the point of no return. Whether its jobs, article 370, reservation, price of petrol, inflation, ram temple, bringing back black money or the fugitives who ran away with public money, BJP has a lot of pending items in the list of deliverables and it has taken for granted that lack of unity and leadership in opposition will automatically take it to victory. They may be in for a rude awakening. People may contribute in denting the BJP’s armor by simply staying at their homes. The same people who rallied for PM Narendra Modi in 2014 might as well give up on him. I am not saying that he has not worked well I am saying that he has not worked well enough. He set the expectations bar so high that no one realized how those expectations will be met. Reality changes slowly in India and when PM’s words do not match with what’s there on the ground, the people will look for other options.

MP and Rajasthan will be a tough fight for BJP. Rajasthan is a gone case for sure; there is a strong resentment against Raje in BJP itself that will show up in poll results. In MP, if Shivraj can take benefit of the in-house bickering that has become the hallmark of the state’s Congress unit, he may have a chance but given the public anger, it’s possible that his government may collapse under its own weight.

There is a sense of complacency in the ruling party, a sense of stillness which is unhealthy for the common man. We have always been disappointed by politicians of our time, these people who join you for a meal before election become so distant, arrogant and unavailable after election that one simply gives up on the whole belief of democracy and if that happens there will be no “achee din” for anyone.