The U.S. president Abraham Lincoln had defined democracy as “Government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
We learnt this line during our school days and remembered it since then. But we never paid any attention to it or understood its depth. This line’s meaning was evident through the recent Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections whose results were declared on October 24, 2019. The party which could single-handedly secure more than 300 seats in the general election just a few months ago, couldn’t get a clear majority in any of the states.
Before I begin, let me make it clear that though I had been vocal about my support to one party, in this article, I will be completely neutral—because democracy not just means supporting, but also criticising your leaders.
So what could be the reason for the poor show of BJP? the economic condition of the country, RTI amendment, fee hike of M.Tech or the recent death of Kamlesh Tiwari? A few reasons might seem unimportant to some but do not to forget that small droplets of water can form an ocean, and this has happened in the case of BJP. Having no strong opposition let the party take many decisions which were not appreciated by the public.
What Do These Results Teach Us?
If the BJP doesn’t learn now, it will never. But they must know that
- Names of only two people can never help a party win every election.
- The ground must always be focused on.
- Local issues matter, local leadership matters, because local results matter a lot.
- Democracy never forgets your deeds. It works similarly as karma does.
- A huge win must not get to anyone’s head, because this is not a monarchy.
- One wrong decision can cover many good deeds and right decisions.
- Lastly and most importantly, democracy had never died, is not dead and will never die.
The results show that people still trust the party sitting at the Delhi office, but not in the way the centre expected. I hope it now resonates with the needs and demands of the public because democracy is us. Lastly, this tweet by film director Vivek Agnihotri is something that every party of the country must follow:
