The message emerging from the result of the Lok Sabha election 2024 is very clear. First, the people, especially the poor and illiterate, have rejected the authoritarianism practised by the Modi-Shah duo during the last decade. The voters have also expressed their strong displeasure at Modi’s attempts to build a theocratic Hindu nation by demonising the large Muslim minority in India.

By reducing the huge majority of the Bharatiya Janta Party, the people also have delivered the message that they will not tolerate any party meddling with the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution and also take away special provisions in the Constitution made for the welfare of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

During election campaigning, Modi tried to convince people that the Hindus were in danger and only he could save Hindus and Hinduism from the Muslims and the India Alliance bent on seizing the properties of the Hindus, including mangalasutras of Hindu women and giving to the Muslims.

With the aim of polarising the Hindu vote, Prime Minister Modi assumed the role of a Poojari and consecrated the Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The temple was built on a piece of land on which the Babri Masjid stood for centuries and was demolished by the Hindutwa forces in 1992. The consecration was done with great fanfare to influence the election outcome.

However, even in Ayodhya, the voters rejected the BJP from the Faizabad constituency where the temple is situated; Avdesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party, a Dalit leader, was elected. He polled 5,54,289 votes against BJP candidate Lallu Singh, a Thakur who got 4,99,722 votes. The temple did not bring any votes for the BJP. Prime Minister Modi’s taking up the role of a Poojari only alienated progressive Hindu youth. Also, the demolition of several Hindu homes in Ayodya to widen the approach road to the Ram temple angered a huge number of voters in Faizabad. Now that the opposition has won more seats than the BJP in U.P, it should demand an investigation into the demolitions in Ayodya.

The BJP ‘s downfall in Uttar Pradesh was brought about by the poor Dalits, Other Backward Castes (OBC), and Muslims joining hands against the polarising campaign by the BJP, led from the front by Prime Minister Modi. For a second time, the people of underdeveloped Uttar Pradesh have saved India from an impending disaster. They had en masse voted against Mrs Indira Gandhi’s authoritarianism in 1977. Mrs Gandhi’s Congress did not win a single seat in 1977.

Had Modi gotten an absolute majority, the country would have witnessed further assault on constitutional principles and federal principles governing Union-State relations, which reached their nadir in the Modi era. Governors appointed by Modi during the last 10 years have been behaving like emperors. Kerala and Tamil Nadu governors have been running roughshod over elected governments.

Modi has been running the government for the last ten years with a firm hand, and his ministers enjoyed little freedom. He enjoyed absolute power. Modi campaigned for himself and pleaded for a two-thirds majority to make major constitutional amendments.

In his campaign speeches, he indulged in anti-Muslim rhetoric. He abused the Muslims and described them as infiltrators. He told the audience that the opposition INDIA Alliance if voted to power, would snatch their property and distribute it among the Muslims. These gimmicks did not yield any benefit to Modi or the BJP. Even in Banswada, Rajasthan, where Modi made the anti-Muslim comments, BJP lost by over three lakh votes.

Modi won in Varanasi with a margin of 1.5 lakh votes, against his 2019 winning margin of 4.8 lakh. The BJP’s strength has come down by 63 seats. Many of the losses were in constituencies where Modi addressed rallies. He invariably campaigned in his name. Therefore, Modi has to take full responsibility for the party’s loss of majority.