Chetan Bhagat Says BJP’s ‘Ugly Traits’ Unsettling ‘Vikas’ Voters

Chetan Bhagat criticises the BJP on two issues – the Padmavati row and the party’s response to the Jay Shah article.

“What’s happening?”

In his column ‘The Underage Optimist’ in The Times of India, Chetan Bhagat asks this question about the increasing popularity of Rahul Gandhi and the shift in political perception away from the BJP. The same question can be asked of Bhagat as well, as the author and columnist writes a rare column which is critical of the BJP and its handling of current crises.

Asking the BJP to ‘introspect’ and take steps to prevent ‘self-goals’, Bhagat focuses on two issues – the Padmavati controversy and BJP’s aggressive response to the Jay Shah article published by The Wire. He argues that while a major electoral defeat for the BJP might be far away, the party and PM Modi are increasingly losing a perception battle wherein people are linking ‘authoritarianism to the BJP.’ Here are few notable excerpts from Bhagat’s column:

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