The main plank of the BJP’s election strategy was a pledge to complete India’s

transformation into a Hindu state. By backing Modi, the voters have indicated
that their belief in secularism was only skin-deep. They have given Modi
licence to tyrannise the minorities, and settle the Kashmir issue through brute
force and chicanery.

The only other plank in BJP’s electoral campaign was a threat to national
security and belligerence towards Pakistan. Its triumph will put a strain on
relations with all neighbours, especially Pakistan. Worse, it could increase the
state’s amenability to pressure from the armed forces and lead to curtailment
of basic freedoms and the rule of law.

While the BJP’s victory is spectacular, no less sensational is the defeat of

Congress and the rout of the Left parties. The CPI-M that had ruled West
Bengal for many years lost to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in 2014
and has failed to win any Lok Sabha seat from that state this time. Both
Congress and the Left Front failed to counter Modi’s rhetoric about national
security and religious exclusiveness.