A necessary acceptance

Healthy competition is marked by a graceful acceptance of defeat. Once we are willing to accept defeat, we can enter the phase of retrospection wherein we must learn our mistakes and improve. In a toxic campaign that BJP carried out in the national capital, the competition for the Delhi Assembly was not very healthy. It had divisive speeches that were absolutely deplorable, yet part of BJP's narrative — Shaheen Bagh. The campaign, and the party, got a strong response from Delhi's people who gave AAP a landslide victory for a second consecutive term. But for BJP to realise its mistake in making those hate speeches, that too Union Home Minister Amit Shah is a surely a positive sign. He asserted that BJP has distanced itself from remarks made by MoS Finance Anurag Thakur in a rally. But it is not a matter of distancing itself from them. It is about issuing party whip to hold those spewing hatred responsible for their statements. Saying divisive statements in public and then distancing itself from those is not a fair assessment of mistakes. It is simply avoiding the difficult part of assessing one's own credibility through an unbiased lens. Of course, a bit of hypocrisy is also at play. Yet, knowing the cause of defeat can serve the party better in the next election. It would serve more if the party proceeds to realise a string of mistakes that it made, not just in the Delhi poll campaigns but the nation in general. AAP's poll narrative has been instrumental in trumping BJP. It has made the latter accept defeat and single out mistakes. Normally, retrospection is the best way to move forward. But retrospection along flawed lines is pointless. If Amit Shah feels the weight of those statements that brought down his party's prospects in the Delhi polls, he would be better off to analyse party's rhetorics and tendency to attract controversy through their loose comments. The behaviour is not just unacceptable but severely harmful for the polity. BJP has made a remarkable rise in the 21st century. They decimated India's grand old party in back to back Lok Sabha elections and the man accepting party's mistake in polls played an instrumental part in BJP's rise. It would be prudent on his note to check party ideologue and thought so that controversial statements don't attract unnecessary criticism for the party.

(Image from thehindubusinessline.com)