It's been quite fascinating since this morning I have been hooked to my screen. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the results as they kept streaming on my screen. That the trend is pretty centred is a wonderful surprise. My own political ideology is such that I stand at the centre as much as possible because then that gives you a good vantage point from where you can make sense of things and see the good and bad of both sides. Also I feel that the kind of times we live in right now, it isn't clearly right and left anymore, so in a way the ideology has stopped to matter as much as it used to earlier. What we are calling right is not adhering to right and what we are calling left is not adhering to left either. It's all a muddle right now.
There is a poster boy and anything and everything seems to be about that poster boy or not. ‘If not Modi then who’ has been an unending discussion everywhere. Firstly this is problematic because we have a parliamentary system and not a presidential one and hence the focus cannot be on one person. Secondly, we have not had a very strong opposition all these years so the ‘then who’ question has remained. The presence of a good opposition is extremely crucial and that looks like a promise now.
There's also an overall anti-incumbency sentiment building up and in some places it has not benefited NDA, UP being a great example. Until now, leading up to this 2024 general elections, whether it was Bharat Jodo or other initiatives happening at the national and state level by those who've formed the INDIA alliance shows that their labour has borne fruit.
Also at the same time I also feel that the opposition really gave a tough fight this election. It's a win against the odds. I recall a lot of people around me were saying that this might be the last time we get to vote, that there might not be elections ever again. This was a very valid fear for a lot of people around me. So is that where we are headed? Of course I do not subscribe to this thought because I know that a vast country like India will never let this happen. But the fact that this fearful thought even came about says a lot about our institutions that were supposed to remain unbiased, especially the Supreme Court and the ED or even the Election Commission that had nothing to say about the kind of speeches that were delivered from both sides. It chose to remain silent. So this is the reason you start losing faith in institutions and democracy itself. But in spite of all of this, I can see my faith being reinstated in our democracy.
So if someone asks me which Shiv Sena is the real Shiv Sena, I'd say, the idea that anyway the Shiv Sena which Balasaheb stood for is nowhere what it used to be especially when everything is so polarised. For me, Uddhav Thackeray was dealt with very difficult cards and in spite of that, the way he handled the whole Covid situation, his presence was felt throughout and his communication with people built credibility like never before. It was very heartening. People also felt that the shoddy and contrived manner in which the party was taken from him and the symbol not granted to him was not fair and the public at large acknowledges that. Also, the sentiment that Uddhav is the rightful heir to Balasaheb's legacy is strong and he finds a lot of support among people of Maharashtra as well as he's a favourite in the state's cultural circuit. He was wronged in people's eyes and that has played more against the BJP in Maharashtra.
I'm also a part of a very political play right now that makes a commentary about the shrinking space for expression and dissent. It talks about how everything is divided in right or wrong and there is no space for a healthy discussion of difference in opinions and ideologies. Also the atmosphere around me became quite vitriolic, a lot of artists writers were pulled up for the statements they made on social media and I have a friend who also got arrested. So coming from there it looked like another year of complete washout especially after the Ram mandir consecration, it looked like a straightaway BJP win. There was a lot of communal referencing in speeches and that it went completely under the radar by the Election Commission was a shocker. Also, in a way I think the Modi wave, if there was one, turned on itself and clearly because it was just so in your face. Everywhere you went, they (BJP) pompomed their agendas which included communally charged statements especially targeted towards Muslims.
INDIA, on the other hand, continued to remain focused on key issues including unemployment, corruption, etc but BJP chose to make this about religion while not bringing digital India, infrastructure development, foreign relations into their campaigning agenda. Thus what BJP did helped the opposition is what I feel and that is exactly how it is showing in the results right now. Also, after 2014, I realised how we had to measure everything we said or did as artists – because someone in the government could take an offence to what you say or do and the consequences could be dire.
I hope that changes now with a change in power. Because I now have a hope that the current opposition has power enough with a substantial amount of seats with them. I felt that with what happened in Chandigarh (mayoral poll ruckus), tampering of electoral bonds, Arvind Kejriwal's orchestrated arrest, and many more such events. BJP has itself turned around the tide in favour of INDIA alliance. Having said this, the NDA has emerged as a winner this term with BJP being the single largest party which means they will form a government but they will also need to pull up their socks. This election has shown everyone that the citizens of India or Bharat or Hindustan, whatever you choose, cannot be taken for granted. Whether they are in power or opposition, it should be remembered that we, the people of this country, make all the difference.
(As told to Pooja Biraia Jaiswal)
Girija Oak Godbole is a prominent actor active in theatre and films.
