Democracy Zinda Hai!

The 2024 elections are over. And there is hope. Disclaimer: This is not an election analysis.

Jun 07, 2024

Despite the heat, the night of 3rd June felt dank and cold almost like the last night of bacha-kucha1 freedom and liberty. The exit polls hadn’t helped either.

Another five years of the ‘400 paar’ sarkar would have sounded the death knell on things a lot of us still hold dear — freedom to pray or not to pray, to eat what we want to eat, to say what we want to say, to dress as we want to dress, to be what we want to be but most importantly, to hold the powers accountable.

As the counting day progressed and results started pouring in, it felt like a weight was being lifted of us. It felt lighter. Mum called to ask “How do you feel?”. What followed was a conversation of hope, of a “country zinda hai”sentiment. Both agreed that voters, in this country, were still alive and thinking and kicking.

For the first time in 10 years it felt like “Mera Bharat Mahaan”. (Enjoy the song for all times sake)

4th June will be a red letter day. The day the Supreme Leader was cut to size.

I never thought I would say this but “Bahutey proud hai hum UP ke” (I am very proud of UP).

But Kerala, enthuvetti? Ningal chuvappil ninne kaavilekku maari!2

BJP’s loss in Ayodhya was the shocker. Ram Lalla turned on the one man who brought him back (or so the Supreme Leader believes). That BJP lost in Ayodhya after all that pomp and show to inaugurate an incomplete Ram Mandir and after all that money spent on the campaign distributing akshat/rice in over 19 crore homes (housing societies in urban areas mostly), shows that after all ‘Rozgaar trumps Ram’.

The memes and the trolling of Ayodhyavasi’s post-results isn’t fair. The voter is free. While the bhakts see ONLY the bhavya Ram Mandir and the airport, the residents see roti, kapda, makaan, rozgaar, paper leak, farmers distress. Ayodhya is part of the larger Faizabad constituency.

This is also a lesson for BJP leaders, and the now former MP of the Faizabad constituency, that they shouldn’t have shot their mouth off about “samvidhan badalne ke liye 400 paar”!

The Supreme Leader by the end of the campaign—and it was a bloody long campaign—had started blabbering. Ab umr bhi ho chali hai. Next year he will turn 75.

So many Godi media interviews—must have been the pressure to perform. The Kanyakumari chutti was, hence, much needed!

I mean he did say “he is not biological”. Come on, it has to be the pressure to give exclusive to everyone. At least he didnt say he is the first Indian to be born of immaculate conception. Wasn’t Karn…?

He almost called himself God. So he started as a servant in 2014, became a chowkidar in 2019, Messenger of God among other things in 2024. Next he would have declared himself GOD. Bhakt toh 10 saal se tayaar hain!

But which GOD?

The Supreme Leader has moved on from Ram. Saheb thode naaraz lag rahe the.

His current favourite is Jai Jagannath. After the thumping victory in Odisha, ye to hona hi tha. But so soon?

By the way, he looked fairly tanned or was it just me. The ever-glowing Supreme Leader seemed drained out at the BJP headquarters on the evening of the 4th. Must have just been tired. After all they won!

Of course, they won. And anchors like Rahul Kanwal with his I-am-the-topper-I-will-please-the-class-teacher verve jumped off from his seat everytime, rushing to the big TV, to tell opposition members “BJP has MORE seats that I.N.D.I.A COMBINED”. Very articulate—waving his hands, rolling his eyes with an idiotic smile. (Almost) seeking approval from Rajdeep, who sat with an avuncular smile resigned and tired of telling him “that this still doesn’t give them the numbers to make a government on their own”.

I had given up on TV News many, many years ago. But I have been watching a few since 4th. Times Now was showing the Biden impeachment on 6th morning. That was quick!

But Sudhir Chowdhary thanking Muslim bhaiyon behenon for voting (without using the term JIHAD) and saying BJP ki dharm ki rajneeti nahi chal sakti… Now THAT WAS SUPER QUICK.

I also watched some of the Godi interviews from the last few months. Uff…had the anchors not been tied to their seats, they would have been at the Supreme Leader’s feet, licking his khadau (on camera) and giggling. Cho chweet!

The questions were never “This is the problem…”; it was always “Rahul Gandhi says…”. It is no secret that they had lost their spine, but ab toh kandha bhi nahi tha. Arre, Rahul Gandhi ka kandha use karo but at least feign some conviction in asking questions. There was only apology in their voices. It was painful to watch.

Oh and “Gandhi became popular only after the film Gandhi…”. Pearls of wisdom.

BJP won. But they seem upset. The bhakts are even more riled. From name calling — pseudo seculars and pseudo intellectual— to calling it the death of democracy, from this country needs “a strong leader” to “Hindu ko jagana mushkil hai..” they tried everything. Someone even remarked that for “Rs 5000 and Biryani” they voted against Modi. And that if “this was dictatorship, we wouldn’t have been able to say all this”.

At least they didn’t say 2014 ke pehle kuch nahi tha! They might have come to this sentence, if we chatted for a couple of more minutes.

Things which bhakts still don’t get is: a) Religion and state are DIFFERENT! b) a strong opposition is important for the health of the nation and, c) Ahankar is bad for politics.

It is now going to be just so much fun to watch Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar pull the strings of the NDA government.

Modi sarkar is passé. Even Modi stopped calling it Modi Sarkar (retrospectively, in fact) from 4th June. It is all NDA now.

There will now finally be a Leader of Opposition. And Modi (if he continues to be the PM) will have to work with a mixed bag. As someone said, it is like Modi has been forced to do a project with these two classmates who are bullies—both have their unending laundry list and one of them can flip at any moment. Umeed pe duniya kayam hai!

Anyway, this is democracy.

Democracy zinda hai!

Hopefully, now, Parliament aur Samvidhan dono ki garima bani rahegi.

“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”―Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

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