On Abrogation of Article 370, and 35A

In the discussions on today's events there is one interesting statistic from the (erstwhile!) state of Jammu & Kashmir that is easily overlooked.

In Lok Sabha 2019 elections, Farooq Abdulla's National Conference bagged less than 8% of the votes of people of J&K. Mehbooba Mufti's PDP got less than 3% of the votes. BJP bagged whopping 46% of all the votes polled in the state. BJP's candidate from Jammu, Jugal Kishore alone bagged over 8.5 lakh votes, which is 3 times the total votes bagged by all National Conference candidates put together (~2.8 lakhs), and 7 times more than the votes bagged by all PDP candidates put together (~1.2 lakhs)! (Source: Election Commission of India's official website http://eciresults.nic.in).

In a democracy the best way to judge the mood of the people is through elections. And LS 2019 results from Jammu & Kashmir clearly show that the Muftis and the Abdullahs no longer represent the voice of the people of the state. With BJP, which had promised to revoke Article 370, winning close to half of the votes in the state, no one can argue that people of Jammu & Kashmir were opposed to abrogation of Article 370 & 35A.

Gujarat Assembly Election Predictions

I had not done too bad in predicting results of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections earlier this year. Now I can take take the risk of throwing out my guess on results of today's Gujarat Assembly Elections. And I better do it before the exit polls come out in a few hours and start biasing my thoughts with their garbage. So here is my guess -

BJP: 135 - 145
Congress: 45 - 35
Others: 2

My take on Lok Sabha 2005 results

Indian elections are like cricket match where the teams bat first and the winner is decided at the end by tossing a coin! BJP might have lost the toss and the match, but it has definitely scored more runs during its five years in power.

I believe it's better to perform well and lose, than to do badly and win. BJP's five years in power were the best years the country has had since independence. BJP leaders and supports should be happy about it rather than grieve over what happened. Indian elections are unpredictable. Sometimes you lose for no fault of yours. You just have to take it in stride. People will bring back BJP after they taste the deadly potion of Sonia and Leftists that they have cooked for themselves.

If a government of good people can lose because of anti-incumbency, one made up of clowns and bigots has no hopes of returning to power. Till then, though, the country will have to bear the brunt of it's follies.

Great parting words from a great leader!

"We have given up office, but not our responsibility to serve the nation. We have lost an election, but not our determination"

Great ending words from the greatest prime minister our country has ever had. An era has come to an end. Great Atal Bihari Vajpayee will never be the prime minister again. He will be replaced by an foreigner with no credentials. And with it begins another chapter of shame in the history of this great nation.

This day will go down as one of the most unhappy days of my life. I needed to hear these words to somewhat lift my fallen spirits - "We have lost an election, but not our determination". With determination, perseverence and wit, we will some day triumph and wipe out all these scars of shame.