Winning at any cost: what about duty and service?

Results of elections to State Assemblies in 2021 were disappointing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, winning Assam and the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry, while losing in major states -- Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The heavy defeat in West Bengal where the Trinamool Congress Party of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee won two--thirds majority with 213 seats to 77 for the BJP, moneycontrol, despite strenuous campaigning by Modi, would have been particularly bitter. "The BJP had pulled out all the stops for electioneering, with PM Narendra Modi leading its campaign from the front," wrote Geeta Pandey. "To enhance his appeal further to the Bengali voter, he had grown his beard long, with his supporters drawing comparisons with the state's much loved icon -- Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore. But in the end, it all came to nothing," BBC. Next year is even more crucial with assembly elections in seven states, plus, possibly Jammu and Kashmir, wikipedia. Of these 7 states, 6 are held by the BJP so the elections are for the BJP to lose. Of these, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is the largest state in India with 80 seats in the Lok Sabha and control of the state could be crucial for the general election in 2024. "Three political economy developments offer pointers to the poll season coming up," wrote Rajrishi Singhal. The first is the government's assault on the social media platform Twitter, whose MD in India, Manish Maheshwari has summoned in person by UP police, Hindustan Times (HT). "But, bizarre as it may sound, a government obsessed with blue ticks on Twitter handles in the midst of a raging second wave, marked by accelerating fatality rates, could be aiming not just to divert attention from lack of oxygen or hospital beds, but also to prime its core constituency for the approaching UP elections," Mint. The second pointer is the change of rules for e-commerce companies, especially Amazon and Walmart. "New Indian e-commerce rules will raise costs for online retailers but particularly Amazon (AMZN.O) and Walmart's (WMT.N) Flipkart as they may have to review their business structures, senior industry sources told Reuters." These rules are "aimed at placating owners of mom-and-pop stores. It is almost ritualistic how every election season the BJP tries to mollycoddle this constituency. Shopkeepers have been part of its core support base, especially in many parts of UP." "The third pointer to UP elections is sugar politics." "At least 95 sugar mills out of 119 have closed their operations in the prevailing crushing season. These mills owe over Rs 11,700 crore (Rs 117 billion) to 40 lakh (4 million) farmers in the state (UP) so much so that the farmers are unable to take care of the other crops they have sown after the cane harvest. Increasing diesel prices are also a big concern for these farmers who have to irrigate lands with the help of generators and tractors," Times of India (TOI). Prices of petrol and diesel are being increased every alternate day relentlessly. "In the last two months, the price of petrol has increased 34 times in India," India Times. A recent meeting, oil cartel OPEC+ failed to come to a consensus about increasing production of crude oil which could result in higher prices of fuel for consumers, Daily Mail. Americans are complaining about high prices of fuel with petrol costing $3.13 per US gallon, which converts to about Rs 70 per liter, Rs 30 less than what we are being forced to pay. "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 67 of the 75 district council presidencies (zilla panchayat adhyaksh or ZPAs) in Uttar Pradesh (UP)," wrote Rahul Verma. Council members, "or even their family members get harassed, or worse, abducted to ensure they vote in a certain way." Control of power and money locally. Can the opposition present a combined front in 2024? That would depend on the Congress. "From 1989, its voter base has been steadily eroding but, despite all this, by virtue of being the main national Opposition party, it still seems an obvious choice to hold together an alternative front," wrote Shashi Shekhar. The BJP will not surrender its power easily. Could end up being a dirty fight. Very dirty.