The rise of the saffron from the ashes - by Bhavika

The chanting Mantras, The propounding channels, The shooting up TRPs and The outpouring predictions were barely the beginning on the political chaos.“Gubbaras popping” dialogs and The Shahazada being mocked at over the months kicked off the election fever. 

As have relished the overwhelming political drama in the world’s second most populous country and we have long awaited the most astonishing results too. Be it the news channels, their experts debating, predictions and forecasts, heart to heart interviews, controversial statements and rallies roaring with mantras and slogans pitching for votes or be it the Election Commission notices to top politicians in the country. In a way, as much as we have enjoyed this political faceoff; the people of this country have waited for the verdict. It is a day that has gone down in history for many more reasons than just election results day.

Magic numbers, never ever reached voting percentages, wisdom of voters, and ‘Jhaago Janab’ by TATA advertisements are some essential happenings to look at.  Throughout the election season, the Saffron has been emphasizing the fact about how important it is to achieve a basic majority with 272 seats for the NDA in the parliament. On the contrary, tri-colour has laid down foundation to hold its ground at getting a majority. Another blooming party “Jhaadu” claimed they would open their political career in the general elections with big numbers. Each Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha,  Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and many others tried to create their own stake in the new government with confusing promises, controversial accusations and directionless strategies while promoting divisive politics. Some opinionated otherwise. This kept building up towards the crescendo. Then came the verdict and the future state of 125 crore Indians.

Gujaratis, Marathas, Rajasthanies, Dilliwalle, Biharis, Assamese, Madhya Pradeshi and UP’ites had a clean illumination of Saffron. The world's largest democracy with its highest ever voting percentage in history has finally delivered. A complete bloom of the Saffron with 284 seats – a 50% majority and multi-faceted allies of NDA with the golden number of 333 seats in the Lok Sabha elections have made Narendra Damodardas Modi - the Prime Minister elect; etching the golden words – Abki baar Modi Sarkar. History record book keepers were busy in scripting the highest margin wins in any general election for the Prime Ministerial candidate in this home land of Vadodara with 5.70 lakh votes and the alarming win in new turf of Varanasi –the  Kashi Nagari Punya bhumi over the others, yet another record. The Saffron illumination covered Uttar Pradesh with 71 of 80 seats; opening up winning constituencies in Kerala for the BJP, TDP’s win in the Seemandhra with its BJP alliance and TRS’s majority in the new state of Telangana with a highest voting percentage state, AIDMK’s strong hold in Tamil Nadu and TMC’s deep roots in West Bengal were some of the highs of this result day. Despite all these wins, it looked rather blurry against the dynamic rise of the Saffron.

From being a wow factor government to a disastrous UPA 2 with bad governance, zero accountability, the growing size of the black money in the Swiss bank, pointless bills passed and shameful leadership; the election was dreadful for some. The 150 years old Congress party failed to open its account in the 7 major states, looking at the trends of counting most experts called for a Congress loss as early at 10am on judgment day. This ended at 44 seats for the Congress and 60 seats for the UPA – its worst ever performance. The Congress party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi despite competing from ancient Congress constituencies failed to make large margins. Established leaders like Kapil Sibal lost. There was not one state where the Congress had won seats in two digits. The ‘Haar Hath Shakti’ rather than appealing to be united created a lack of leadership. AAP opened its victory only in Punjab with 4 seats alone, failing their predictions. The Assam CM resigned over the defeat, the JDU, RJD, SP, BSP faired with single digit seats losing the battle at home ground only with the family members who fared well, DMK and MNS failed to win a single seat. The time has come when the government will need a coalition of form the Opposition.

The face of the Indian political system had been transformed into a country-wide shift against the Congress. Ruling out loyalty and dynasty politics – this is the awaken of the post-independence era. The people were no longer interested in the Left which only had 11 seats country-wide, the redistribution is not what they want. Going back to economics; they wanted growth. Past government formations were with coalitions and negotiations, this election result has given a single majority win post 1984. Some called it the polarization of votes by the BJP, while others argued that quintessential Indian voter has changed needs now, the needs BJP has promised to fulfill.  But it would be incomplete not to mention the charisma of the Prime Minister elect Narendra Modi in this election. His Gujarat development model,

The mesmerizing speeches at over 437 rallies,

The prime role of his social media stunt of 1.56 crore likes on his Facebook pages and 43 lakh followers On Twitter and over 8 lakh views on some of his interviews on Youtube, Holograms, 5500 video conferences and 650 3D rallies, 300,000 kilometers of clocking in travelling, the connect with the ground level or the strategy has worked wonders for him.  He also created world records – his victory tweet become the highest ever re-tweeted by India. Delegation of execution, thirst for development has driven him to glorious victory.

Uttar Pradesh which has always supported a Dalit leader has now re-shifted towards development and market based politics; thus a trend shifting away from notions that divide our nation. Most call this – a Modi tsunami. The country has MODI-fied. Being a chaiwalla’s proud son he says –

“I have never dreamt of becoming someone great; I have dreamt of doing great things.”

This is the sole principle behind his glory as a visionary.

This is a vote against crony capitalism, phony over-rated secularism and minority focused politics. The focus has been on eradication of such sentiments. The tectonic shift towards the Saffron domination is a vote for sustainable development and good governance. Verdict has been for stability, transparency, growing trade, international ties, and opportunities for all.  The mandate speaks for their belief in his school of thought. There has been a long on speculation about how this vote will be a vote for HOPE. The word hope itself has been outplayed to such enormity that it became the motto of this election. The ‘Ache din aane waale hain’ has played its part in campaigning, what remains is the future. Will the Modi led government deliver on its promises of hope and change? Kya ache din aa gaye hain?

Each and every next gen must understand and practice “I have never dreamt of becoming someone great; I have dreamt of doing great things.”