Here comes the lion, say jubilant BJP workers at Modi’s brief victory roadshow in Delhi

Waiting at the Windsor Place roundabout near the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in central Delhi early on Sunday evening, Anita Pratap Singh said she was at her third celebration since the Assembly election results in five states were declared on Saturday.

Singh, 38, a secretary of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, or women’s wing, had first celebrated her party’s stupendous victory in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections in Lucknow on Saturday, and then at the BJP headquarters in Delhi on Sunday morning. Dressed in saffron and gold, she returned to the party headquarters in the evening to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promised roadshow and speech.

“I did not expect BJP to win more than 300 seats in Uttar Pradesh,” said Singh. She had campaigned in Uttar Pradesh for BJP’s Swati Singh, her sister-in-law, who won the Sarojini Nagar seat in Lucknow. “Our most optimistic guess was 250 [seats]. We filled the place near our party office in Lucknow with saffron colours and marigold.”

Saffron was present in abundance in Delhi too as were dhols and flowers and bunting. The atmosphere was festive.

“The roadshow is for the karyakartas [party workers],” said Kalpana Popli, also from the BJP’s women’s wing. “The PM wants to thank us. It is a great honour for us. Our win shows that people believe in our vision, mission and sincerity. They believe in work and we have a PM who works 18 hours in a day.”

‘Babbar sher’

The BJP announced the roadshow in Delhi on Sunday morning after it became clear that the party would form the government in four of the five states where Assembly elections were held. While the saffron party won Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand with a landslide, it aims to form the governments in Manipur and Goa – where it does not have a majority – with the help of smaller parties and independents. The Congress won decisively in Punjab.

When it happened, the roadshow turned out to be more of a padyatra (walk) that was over in about five minutes. At about 6.20 pm, Modi alighted from his car at the Windsor Place roundabout and, flanked by BJP members, security personnel and their cars, walked the few hundred metres to the party headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road. But that was enough for the hundreds who had lined up on both sides of the road for over an hour to catch a glimpse of the prime minister.

There were numerous false alarms. The crowd shouted “har har Modi” for sundry ministers and security personnel before realising they were wrong. When Modi actually arrived, they rushed to the security barricades with their mobile phones ready to take photographs, and chanted his name as he disappeared into the building. At least a few quipped, “Yeh hui na babbar sher,” comparing him to a lion.

Many left immediately after Modi made an appearance. Those who managed to get inside the premises of the headquarters stayed, and another lot gathered around the screen set up at the gate for speeches that were being made inside.

Caste issues are passé

Party workers and supporters said that they had earned the right to gloat about the election victories. “This authenticates his Lok Sabha victory,” said Raghav Kumar, a communications sector employee based in Delhi, echoing BJP chief Amit Shah who later said the party’s victories in the Assembly elections took the BJP “two steps further than even the 2014 [general election] victory did”.

Although not a formal member of the BJP, Kumar said that he had canvassed for home minister Rajnath Singh’s son, Pankaj Singh, in Noida in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Singh won. “Modi has immersed himself in the imagination, aspirations, even the grievances of the people,” said Kumar.

Issues of caste and religion are no longer valid grievances, argued Kumar, this time echoing Modi himself. “Those are completely eradicated, marginalised,” he said.

Speaking at the BJP headquarters on Sunday, Modi said: “[The results] show that other than emotional issues, development is a major and difficult issue…All national parties have hesitated to raise it [development].”

Senior BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu were also present at the BJP headquarters.

Neeta Gokhale, a Supreme Court lawyer who had brought her school-going daughter to the BJP headquarters to “see Modi” agreed that issues of caste and religion were “passé” as poll issues. Gokhale is not a member of the BJP and this was the first time they had attended an event organised by a political party. “He is doing a great job for the country,” said Gokhale. “His heart is in the right place. He is a nationalist, a good statesman and, hopefully, can give the people of UP a better life.”

The right move

Along with the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, and Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Sunday’s revelers listed the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in November as the government initiatives that fetched the BJP votes this time. “It took black money out of the system,” said Popli.

Swarup Kumar Maity, who crafts gold jewellery for a Karol Bagh shop, said that he thought demonetisation “was wrong initially” but revised his opinion later. “It was the right move and now there are no problems,” he said. He and dozens of others left messages on the “wall of victory” set up opposite the BJP offices and then drifted off chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and “Har har Modi”.

Veena Tiwari had led 60 women from Nangloi Jat in North West Delhi to Ashoka Road and planned to ask the party leaders for a ticket for the forthcoming municipal elections in the national capital. The poor showing of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and Goa, the two states they contested this time, have led BJP members to believe that the municipal seats in the national capital were practically in the party’s bag.

“We will definitely win this one, with full mandate,” said Tiwari.

Added Kusum Tomar, a women’s wing member from Navin Shahdara in North East Delhi: “We never took AAP seriously. They came in yesterday and people got swayed.”

Supporters around Tomar chanted: “UP toh bas trailer hai, picture abhi baki hai [The victory in Uttar Pradesh is just a trailer, the movie is yet to come].” Many among the crowd believed that a win for Modi and the BJP is certain in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections too.

Government for everyone

Speaking on Sunday, Modi claimed that he was less bothered about elections than about seeing India developed, and its poor educated, employed and contributing to the economy.

If they do, Modi said that he foresaw a far more developed country by 2022 when India will celebrate 75 years of Independence. “I am not one to think along the lines of who lost and who won,” he said. “I see the mandate as an order which I will fulfil to the best of my capability.”

Modi added that his party was responsible for even those who did not vote for the BJP.

Sugam Kumar, a young party worker from Ghitorni on the Delhi-Gurugram border, was especially moved by this statement. Kumar had hoped that Modi’s walk would last longer, but the speech, which he caught on the screen outside, made up for his disappointment. “I really liked that he said his government is for everyone,” he said.