•Coomi Kapoor: Is the BJP going to reflect on its performance in the just-concluded assembly elections, especially after the Delhi defeat?

Each election has its own script; there are no two elections that are alike. This election is important because of one key change in the electoral pattern. Normally, the easiest election to contest is when you are in the Opposition. You carry out an anti-incumbency campaign against the government and the government of the day loses because people are unhappy with the government. Conventionally, the CPI(M) used to win in Bengal because an alternative did not emerge in the state, especially after the split in the Congress.

These assembly elections have seen a very significant change: all four incumbent chief ministers were extremely popular. In the case of Rajasthan, we lost but lost narrowly. It is not the defeat which is the cause for introspection, but it’s the reason. Vasundhara Raje had started this election with a realistic possibility of winning 110-126 seats. But the BJP started with 62 rebel MLAs out of 200 seats. For the first time in four elections, we saw a pro-incumbency factor with the states. I think that is the big picture of this election. Measures of governance have radically improved and therefore all four states were keen to vote the incumbent chief minister back to power. I think Indian politics is now entering a newer phase where you will see far more incumbency votes.

•Coomi Kapoor: In Delhi, the BJP’s core constituency, the youth and the middle class, seem to have deserted it. Surely, Vijay Kumar can’t be the only person responsible for that.

... contd.