The juggernaut rolls on

The BJP juggernaut rolls on. The opponents were vanquished in Maharashtra and Haryana. Modi's high-voltage campaigning paid rich dividends, and Rahulbaba's antics came to naught. The original Dada of Maharashtra politics, Shiv Sena, had to eat humble pie at the hands of the BJP. And here in West Bengal, the political presence of the saffron party is getting stronger by the day, with consolidation at the grassroots level, and the TMC and Left Front getting on a common platform to attack the "communal" enemy. The BJP is one rare issue that unites Mamata  Banerjee and Buddhadev Bhattcaharya these days. And true to form , the first BJP State Legislative Assembly seat from Barasat in the recent bye-elections showed the growing clout of the party in West Bengal.

After the Centre, will the BJP now sweep the states? It seems definitely that a BJP wave is on the rise, fuelled by the charisma of Narendra Modi.But there is always a gap between the cup and the sip. Modi faces the task of proving himself at the centre, living up to sky- high expectations ( a daunting task anyday) and decimating the Congress as the Grand Old ( Gone ) Party. For this, clean governance, sound economic results and a balanced, non-vindictive, non- communal approach is required. Also , the party needs to grow in states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh , where it has largely been  a bystander all these years.

More than two decades after Ayodhya, the BJP has the onerous task of proving that it is not only the party that pulled a temple down, but also the party that pulled a nation up. All the best to Na Mo and his team in this endeavour! Probably he can do well to remind himself every night, “ There are miles to go before I sleep.’