Here's what the US Presidential elections 2020 taught India

Donald Trump with PM Narendra Modi during a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25 this year. File pic/AFP

The US is ridin' on Biden after the Democrats brought in a blue wave. In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come in for direct walloping and snide-snickers from the opposition. Believed to be cut from the same cloth as the Republicans, many gleefully carp that the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump bromance is punctured. They use the Trump loss as a message and harbinger for a BJP downfall.

Opinions differ

Niranjan Shetty, BJP spokesperson laughed and acknowledged that he was aware of the sentiment.

"This is a personal view, and as individuals, everybody is entitled to have an opinion. There is no problem with airing a view, and we respect that. Yet, it is important to remember that the US elections and Indian elections are very different. In USA, there were platforms like joblessness and the way COVID was dealt with. Think about how India has handled the COVID situation. It has been much better than many countries. Earlier, Trump had not imposed a lockdown. We had a lockdown in March, and today the rates are attested by the wisdom of calling for an early shutdown. So, you see the success in this call by the central government?"

Matter of perspective

Taking the larger election picture in mind, Shetty said, "Elections are fought to be won, but a lot depends on the mood of the voter till the last day. You may recall during the 1990s, post the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress won the election on a sympathy wave. At that time they were going to lose and one could discern a BJP wave. Yet, sympathy played a huge part in turning the tide." He further explained, "Today, some people look at the glass as half full and some others as half empty. It is a matter of perspective. I do not think there is any comparison between the US mandate and India, and we will see Modi and the BJP emerge stronger with flying colours."

Balasaheb Thorat, Maharashtra Congress president said, "There are definitely some takeaways. Recently, we have seen a wave wherein there is a tendency to divide society. Whether it is on white, black or religious lines. We have leaders like Turkey's Erdogan who is doing this now. We have Narendra Modi here. Development has taken a backseat. Not just now, even just before Corona, things were bad in India. In Bihar too, development was not mentioned but only the religious plank was pushed. Today, the US election results are reflective of a changing global mindset that is not for division but development."

Left centre

Mumbai Youth Congress president, Ganesh Yadav said, "We are seeing a shift from the right wing leaning that the world has demonstrated, and the US results are a big indicator of that. There has been a tilt towards right wing politics, look at Macron in France, Boris Johnson in the UK, the Trump ideology and Erdogan in Turkey, but people have started to realise that this politics does not bring peace. Instead, we have polarisation, which is not conducive to development." The Congressman sees a shift of the political pendulum to Left Centre politics, "and we will soon experience that here too," he finished.

A stinger

Ashok Dhawale from Mumbai central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) stated, "This is a very welcome development and an authoritarian, bigoted and racist person like Trump has been shown the door. Joe Biden should heed the advice of people like Bernie Sanders, who said that we hope the new administration will work for all Americans and not just for a moneyed few."

When asked about a perception that the new US administration may not augur well for India, Dhawale shot back, "I do not think that is true. Kamala Harris is of Indian origin. In fact, India must not give in to the imperialist demands of USA and go with economic agreements that are being imposed on us and not in our best interests," he finished.

Aam Aadmi Party national joint secretary Ruben Mascarenhas said with a chuckle, "The right wing extremists have been defeated in the world's oldest democracy and we truly hope it also happens in the world's larges democracy."

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