Washington: After the BJP got landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly elections the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as a clear favourite for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A top United States (US) expert on India have said that the electoral results of the recently concluded Assembly polls in five states show that the 2014 Lok Sabha election results were not an irregularity.
While one of another expert noted that Modi would continue to lead India after 2019.
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, Adam Ziegfeld said, the Assembly elections do not signal much of a change. The Uttar Pradesh election results showed that the 2014 general elections were not an “aberration”.
He said, “It was a big win for the BJP. Its candidate won with much larger margin of victory than compared to the two previous winners BSP and Samajwadi Party.”
The Resident fellow at American Enterprise Institute, Sadanand Dhume said, Modi has been established by this election as the “clear and favourite winner” for the 2019 elections.
Narendra Modi clear favourite for 2019 Lok Sabha elections: US expert
A professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at the Georgetown University, Irfan Nooruddin predicted that in 2019, the BJP is unlikely to be getting a simple majority and Modi would rather be heading a coalition government.
The party does not do good in a state where it faces a direct opposition. BJP is beatable if the Opposition comes together, Nooruddin said, adding that the party gains where it faces a fragmented opposition and in 2019, anti-incumbency would kick in.
Dhume who was in Uttar Pradesh during the elections said, in this election, the BJP played the cast card while pretending to be above it.
He said by referring to his conversation with people in the state, “Demonetisation is extremely popular. Indian people who have suffered themselves in the wake of the policy, it won their heart and mind. Here is this man of sincerity who struck a principled blow to corrupt and the rich.”
However, Dhume noted that Modi after this historic victory in Uttar Pradesh is unlikely to go for the kind of economic reforms the private sector would like to have.
India is going to bump up its economic reforms that directly effects the people of the country, said Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.
BJP will now pick up a lot of seats in Rajya Sabha which would help the ruling party to carry out its long pending reform like the land acquisition reform and labor reforms.
