Govind Parashar, president of Rashtriya Hindu Parishad, reportedly smashed a television and set it on fire to express his dismay with the election results.

Though Parashar, a man of notably extreme views and a history of committing such flagrant displays of discontent for media attention, may have been one of the most extreme cases to go viral— this sense of restlessness among the political right is a common sentiment. 

Parashar, in a statement, said, “The country has once again fallen into the hands of those who used to say ‘Bharat tere tukde honge inshallah inshallah'.” 

Videos of Parashar have been emerging throughout the web. One of the videos show him taking the TV off the wall and smashing it on the ground repeatedly as two people try to stop him and in another, it shows him putting the TV on the road and setting it on fire. In the former video, his children can be heard saying, ‘he broke the TV.’ He had continued to kick it with his legs, however, till it was not completely destroyed.

Rashtriya Hindu Parishad
Image Source: FB

Rashtriya Hindu Parishad Leader's Outburst Amid Election Results

This disappointment is quite strange to witness, within the context of BJP led NDA alliance still forming the union government this term. However, it is not the win the political right would have desired.

Parashar seems to blame the loss on multiple factors. “The Bharatiya Janta Party should also respect its workers and give them priority within the party,” Parashar said. 

Both these videos can be found on X user Rajeev Mullick @rmulko’s account. 

He is not the only one who holds such beliefs.

Since the counting began yesterday and dismayed a lot of exit poll expectations, these declarations have rung through entire households. ‘Hindus never unite,’ has been a common statement repeated over and over again by several people, online and offline, owing to the disappointment of not being able to garner complete majority of 272 in the Lok Sabha. This expectation had been promoted by the party campaigning with the slogan ‘Abki baar 400 paar’ (Over 400 (votes) this time) and by the exhilarating majority they had surmised in 2019’s Lok Sabha elections, winning by 303 seats. A clean majority. This makes the BJP's 240 seats a picture of falling too far short of their goals.

Most of the surprise, however, has emerged due to Congress’ win of 99 seats and INDIA bloc’s surprising count of 234 seats. NDA has amassed a total tally of 292 seats and though they lead the discussion by a clear margin, it becomes apparent that a coalition government will be formed either way. As of now, BJP’s frontrunner Narendra Modi is going to swear in for his third consecutive run as Prime Minister with the party but this will lead to an interesting scenario for the upcoming parliamentary term. 

In the last decade, any party with a clear majority could dominate the parliamentary discussions. However, BJP falling short of a crucial 32 seats this time has led to the expectations of the political right shifting. They are unsure, now, if the promises made in the manifesto can be fulfilled despite a fully stacked presence of the opposition in the parliament. It has led to numerous discussions on the stability of the coalition and it’s benefit in terms of market but though opinions may be divided on this specific issue, a coalition is good for democracy. 

It is important for opposing voices to call each other out on any given issue in the parliament and though popular belief remains that the voices of several Indians were swayed by propaganda and bias against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, regardless of the motivation, Indians voted to keep democracy safe. India is rich with as much disharmony as it is with harmony but only in our diversity can we instil the true faith of our unity in.

The coalition government of the upcoming term may be something volatile and new for many people but it will be a crucial cornerstone in our shared history.

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