NY Times editorial slams PM Narendra Modi

“The way the prime minister needs to analyse the Bihar election results is that he must address concerns on the issue of intolerance”.

“Since he swept to power 18 months ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved to be a charismatic global statesman, impressing leaders from Shinzo Abe to Barack Obama as well as expatriate Indians with his ambition to modernise India”, The Financial Times’ said.

The BJP on Monday defended its top leadership as well as the RSS and its chief Mohan Bhagwat for the party’s humiliating defeat in the Bihar assembly polls, saying the party as a whole wins or loses elections. The newly-formed JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance secured 178 seats in the 243-member House, while the NDA could get only 58 seats. They said that the Bihar results show that the party has not learnt any lesson from its defeat in the Delhi polls earlier this year.

“The poll impact won’t deter investor confidence and sentiment…”

“They will judge us by our working style and we will provide good governance”.

“We have to be single mindedly focused on development, development, development”, said Chandan Mitra, a BJP member of parliament. “In a few cases, there are delays, but those will be sorted out”, he said. “With continued opposition, the government will likely continue to try and pass legislation via ad hoc political deals, and if that does not work it may continue to resort to implementation of reforms at the state level”.

He expressed hope that Bihar would support the legislation because as a consuming state, it would benefit from the new indirect tax legislation.

While campaigning in Bihar, Modi “tried to exploit sectarian divisions by telling voters that the secular alliance would reduce affirmative action benefits for lower-caste Hindus and tribes in favour of “a particular community” – an apparent reference to Muslims”.

“To say that everyone is responsible for the defeat in Bihar is to ensure that no one is held responsible”.

With Nitish Kumar having convincingly decimated Brand Modi in Bihar, the Opposition politics has got rejuvenated with anti-BJPism (like anti-Congressism of yore) being the new mantra for many regional groupings.

The government has plans to roll out GST from April 1, 2016, but the Constitution Amendment Bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.