Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Lessons from Ahmed Patel's victory

Ahmed Patel fought very hard to be elected to the Rajya Sabha once more. There was prolonged suspense before the votes were counted because of contravention of electoral rules by two estranged Congress members.

Two lessons are obvious from this episode. One is that the Election Commission is capable of resisting pressure from the government / ruling party to bend rules. This is a good example worthy of emulation by other institutions.

The second lesson is that BJP lost the contest because of its obsessive urge to defeat Ahmed Patel. It is this pathological urge that forced Amit Shah to have an unauthorised look at the ballot of two Congress members. Determination and persistence are desirable and productive. Excessive anxiety to score a victory at any cost is counter-productive.

3 comments:

akji said...

Over enthusiastic MLA's tilted the balance which should have been avoided by BJP. The lone JD ( U) also voted for Congress

MUTHU PRASANTH said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MUTHU PRASANTH said...

Victory of Mr.Patel
Defeat of INC
(By)mistake of BJP
BJP actually achieved their objective( though morality is subject to debate) but for the silly mistake in the last minute. INC was helpless right from the beginning till the end, but for EC's call.
I don't see it as anxiousness. BJP has started the 2019 game. They seem to have decided to be on front foot, attacking right from the beginning so that INC duck to their bouncers, get nervous. hoping for a hit wicket, may be.
Clearly BJP's strategy to tackle anti incumbency (usual on a run for the second term) is to decimate opposition before the start of the game and put those dissatisfied, in a though position.