by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Harish Gupta
Modi Tsunami Hits Opposition hard,
Garibi Hatoa-II brings second term
PM to take Oath early, Speculation on New Finance Minister
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, May 23
Modi Tsunami hit India again with NDA securing biggest ever victory in the 17thLok Sabha. If 2014 witnessed Modi wave, 2019 is a Tsunami as the BJP surpassed its own tally of 282 Lok Sabha seats. The results shocked the 22-parties Opposition who were working in different ways to de-thrown Modi and calling him names like “Chowkidar Chor Hai.” But the Modi-Amit Shah team worked hard through five years in the government and the party respectively. It was a feather in the cap of Prime Minister Modi who campaigned vigorously by addressing 142 rallies and launched frontal attack on the Gandhis, invoked strong nationalism (surgical strike inside Pakistan) and above all touched 24 crores people through his Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes. In villages after villages Modi Toilets, Modi House, Modi Gas, Modi Roads, Modi-Kisan did wonders in 27 states where these schemes were launched. It was a replica of Indira Gandhi's Garibi Hatao slogan which had given her the biggest mandate of 351 seats in 1971.
If sources are to be believed, he would like to start his second innings rather early and take oath on an auspicious day. An insider told Lokmat that he would not take oath on “Panchak days” and May 25 and May 30 are considered auspicious days.
There is an intense speculation whether BJP president Amit Shah would join the government or continue to work for the party. Since Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has rescued himself from the second inning in view of frailing health, Modi will need a new Finance Minister. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is also unable to take a heavy work load due to health reasons. Modi will also have to find a new Leader of the Rajya Sabha in the absence of Jaitley. All this will be decided during the next two days and the consultation process with the core group of the party and the RSS has already begun. The younger leadership of the party has reasons to smile particularly Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal.
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Of the ten pollsters, three proved on the dot who gave NDA around 350 seats. So intense was the Modi wave that it swept away Congress and its allies in Bihar, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Assam and entire North East. The Congress was wiped out in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal and Rajasthan. The same was witnessed in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh which Congress won only six months ago. Karnataka witnessed the same fate where its tall leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Veerappa Moily licked the dust. Tamil Nadu and Kerala were the only states where Congress could won its share of seats. Punjab is the lone winner for the Congress. But the credit for the same goes to the Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh. On the other hand, Modi succeeded in expanding BJP's footprint in West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana and retained BJP's strongholds. Belying reports, the BJP retained all 26 seats in Gujrat too.
