Assembly polls 2018: Congress gained a leader, BJP lost a mascot, and more

For BJP, the reigning deities have lost magic and bhakts are hoping for miracles; for the Opposition, the recent state elections have shown the need for Congress and other parties to stick together

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has apparently not taken stock of its failure in the recently concluded five-state Assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the only person who spoke at the meeting of the BJP’s parliamentary party convened after the electoral debacle. At the party headquarters, the sole speaker was party president Amit Shah. There was no formal dialogue with the members of Parliament or the party office bearers.

Amit Shah is reported to have told party functionaries “(the) BJP did not lose in these elections and the Congress did not win”. This cryptic one-liner is hardly an adequate analysis