Interview: BJP has successfully mobilised the non-Muslim vote to its advantage
· Scroll
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The state election results declared on May 4 offer an insight into Indian politics two years after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power at the Centre with a significantly weakened mandate.
In an interview with Scroll, political analyst and psephologist Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said that the Opposition alliance stands significantly weakened: the BJP ousted the Trinamool Congress from West Bengal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lost Tamil Nadu to actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. However, the Congress managed to win Kerala with a big majority.
There was talk of MK Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress leading the INDIA bloc, said Kumar. “Now, after both of them being defeated, this discussion will be paused,” he said. “There is no challenge to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership within the INDIA alliance, though it is weaker now.”
For the BJP, this is a moment of extra happiness because INDIA partners are losing state after state, said Kumar. “A...