Opinion: Modi-Shah Meet Their Match - Federalism Opinion: Modi-Shah Meet Their Match - Federalism
Updated: May 03, 2021 12:16 pm IST
There is only one fact about Indian politics that matters: the sole thing capable of stopping the Modi-Shah Hindutva election machine in its tracks is federalism. It should come as no surprise that the states where the Bharatiya Janata Party just lost state elections are ones where a strong regional - indeed, sub-national - identity predominates. Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan all, to a greater or lesser degree, made this election about their states forging a path within, but distinct from, India s. They have shown us the answer to the question that is the last resort of the Modi fan faced with facts about the union government s poor performance, So, what is the alternative ? The alternative to Modi is: Everyone else. Voters outside the Hindi heartland have been telling us this for years, but Delhi s intellectuals and media, blind