In Tamil Nadu, though no one can really challenge the two Dravida parties in any serious way, the BJP will want Jayalalithaa to win because she is more likely to be an ally than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. What are the chances that Mr Modi will proceed with reforms when three crucial elections are due this year and two more — Punjab and the ultimate prize, Uttar Pradesh — are due the year after And by the end of 2017, it would be barely a year and a half till the next general elections. In Assam, the BJP sees a real opportunity to knock off the Congress and plant its flag in a crucial border state.This prognosis can still prove wrong.
The BJP wants to not just make its presence felt in West Bengal it also wants to shake up Mamata Banerjee who, it feels, is vulnerable in the long run. Within a year of taking over, the government had tried to push through changes in the Land Acquisition Act and, after facing resistance from the Opposition, dropped them. This was strange, considering that Mr Modi had come to power promising not just to wipe away the mess created by the Manmohan Singh government, but also to do it quickly. Mr Modi takes personal interest — some would say an inordinately high interest — in state elections. The last year and a half has been a saga of lost opportunities and the caveat of caution is the possibility that this government could break out of that mould. This China ejector sleeve for sale was to be a showpiece legislation, since it was the BJP’s contention that the UPA’s Land Acqusition Act — which it had signed off on — was proving to be a handicap for those who wanted to set up factories. It is likely however that this will not happen and the reason for that is politics, or rather, electoral politics.
All this is fairly well known but the big question is: Can all this change and will 2016 be the year that the country finally see results A New Year is a time for new beginnings, so should we not look forward with hope Does the Modi government have plans to make radical changes that will change the country for the better It would be wonderful to say that the answer to these questions is a qualified yes, but a more realistic assessment would be that of cautious pessimism.
If that happens, and the country gets on the right track, the BJP can win back its dissipating goodwill. There was just no evidence of the swift decision-making that Mr Modi was supposed to be famous for. The economy, poised for growth, will take off.All this will prove distracting for the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.end-of. No one in his/her wildest dreams will say that achche din are here or anywhere in sight. Prime Ministers should not be expending so much political capital on state elections but the BJP is in a bind since it does not have any other leader with so much heft. Given that he is the party’s mascot and vote winner that is understandable, but an election seems to bring out the roaring campaigner in him.For most of 2014 after May, supporters of the ruling dispensation had only one thing to say to their critics who were pointing to the lack of any notable policy movement and results on the ground — give the government some time.