By The Editor

The first Diwali of the Indian Prime Minister has brought a bonanza for him and the ruling party. Modi magic has worked from glaciers of Siyachin to polling boots of Maharashtra, BJP’s new leadership is hitting big on the political pitch. Especially those who didn’t wanted to give Modi his due credit in the landslide victory in Lok Sabha polls, got an ugly reminder of the holes in their political calculations. No one felt it more than the Shivsena, whose tone changed as the exit polls and election results came out.

In Both the states Haryana and Maharashtra, BJP hardly had a recognizable face at the state level and add on top of that a poor performance record in the past assembly elections. Apart from few names who are regular within the media circles, it seemed too long a shot but BJP found its Chanakya in Amit Shah. His gamble to go alone paid off and it also served the purpose of teaching an important lesson to Uddhav and the rest of BJP allies, you need them and they need you, in politics every party serves its own interest and friends and foes can swap places. And timing couldn’t be better, Modi’s successful visit to US, economically reviving policies and above all tit for tat on border with Pakistan, proved vital in clearing the doubts of the average voter. Team BJP was also shrewd in not making too much fuss during the election campaign on ending 25 years long alliance with Shivsena, which sort of projected an image that their old friends were only interested in power.   They should be cautious now in choosing new friends. NCP has a bad name and sena might be having second thoughts on divorce. All they have to do is watch because sooner or later some one will come to them.

Congress in these elections has lost the most and they have a lot more to loose, their political relevance, if not survival is very much at stake here. If we go by the past pattern, in each state where Congress held power for a long period of time proved to be their waterloo, subsequently. First New Delhi, then Lok Sabha and now Haryana and Maharashtra, its either people really detest them or they are paying for their incompetent and weak leadership, probably much of both.

BJP has a huge responsibility now since people have put their faith in them. Their efforts and policies in bringing back the country on track would dictate their chances on sustaining their winning streak but right now its sweets and crackers for Bharatiya Janta Party.