New Delhi: Thursday (March 10) was undoubtedly a good day for the Bharatiya Janata Party – it will now comfortably form the government in four out of the five states that saw assembly elections over the last month. While the Aam Aadmi Party party delivered a resounding victory in Punjab, the other states that went to polls – Manipur, Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh – will all see BJP governments being formed.This victory for the BJP has come after a number of assembly election losses for the party in recent times.In their editorials on Friday morning, English-language newspapers all talked about these election results, while looking at them from different angles.Hindustan Times: A rejection of ‘resort politics’Rather than talking about the political outcome, Hindustan Times in its editorial talked about a familiar situation around election results in India: winning candidates being moved to hotels or resorts, where the party leadership can keep an eye on them and ensure that they are not poached by rival camps.“The latest round [of elected candidates being moved to resorts] in Uttarakhand and Goa, playing out even before results are declared, indicates that even the fig leaf of ideology and party loyalty has been abandoned. They also show how widespread the phenomenon is now — from state and national polls to presidential and Rajya Sabha elections. This is not good news for a democracy, where people choose their representatives as much for their party affiliation as their individual record. The anti-defection law, designed specifically to discourage such machinations, has been found wanting as lawmakers and political parties have, time and again, found their way around it. The threat of disqualification, which was supposed to be a strong deterrent, appears to have little impact,” the newspaper noted.Times of India: A missing focus on job creationThe BJP’s emphatic wins, the Times of India‘s editorial notes, has highlighted that the politics of welfarism and populist policies can win elections – even if it comes without the focus on job creation that people may desperately need. “Modi’s BJP has created a new model, at least in the politically most significant Hindi heartland – continuous subliminal and/or overt messaging to attract a pan-caste Hindu vote and, by Indian governance standards, very effective delivery of welfare benefits,” the newspaper notes.While it’s possible that these wins will make parties continue on this path, the editorial notes, there is also another alternative: “…hopefully, at least some of them [parties] will conclude that the fiscal limits of welfarism will be reached very soon and that growth and jobs via smart policies is the only sustainable political economic formula in a country where a vast number of low-income citizens are looking for reasonably well-paid jobs. It is vital that BJP, the most influential party by far, chooses the correct alternative.”Indian Express: BJP’s primacy solidifiedBy winning four states, the BJP has reiterated its position as the primary political pole in India, the Indian Express noted in its editorial. “With this round of elections, it has all but upended one of the last few caveats to its spectacular success – the party is yet to conquer the country’s south, barring Karnataka, it is pointed out, and even elsewhere, its performance in the states does not match up to its dominance of the Centre. While the south remains a challenge for Modi’s party, its decisive victories in four out of the five just-concluded assembly elections, including and especially UP, have, at least for now, put paid to the latter criticism.”While detailing perceived reasons for the BJP’s popularity – including its focus on ‘suraksha (safety)’, narrative of welfare delivery and “a Hindutva both more assertive and insecure” – the newspaper editorial also noted that this was the time for the BJP to ensure that dissenting voices are respected: “…in a democracy that is large and diverse, in this moment of triumph, there is also the victor’s challenge: To respect voices that oppose and disagree. To give the non-elected and countervailing institutions, the checks and balances, their due space and hearing. To include sections of the electorate that do not feel represented in its spectacular victory. The hard-fought election campaign was the party’s, but the government is, always, of the people.”The Hindu: BJP’s winning polarisation formulaIn its editorial, The Hindu highlights how despite deep-seated socio-economic troubles on the ground, the BJP and Modi-Yogi combine was able to retain power in Uttar Pradesh. “The voters had appeared anguished with inflation, stray cattle menace, poor COVID-19 management, and unemployment, but not enough to vote out the BJP government. A protracted agitation of farmers had minimal impact on the polls, as the BJP won many seats in its epicentre of west U.P. It appears that the non-Jat and non-Muslim votes considerably consolidated behind the BJP in the face of the aggressive campaign of the SP-RLD alliance. Several backward caste leaders switched from the BJP tent to the SP camp, but ordinary voters did not follow them to an extent that could have threatened the BJP.”Another thing these elections have made clear, the editorial notes, is that “there is no one party that can challenge the BJP”. “A loose coalition of regional and Left parties, with or without the Congress at the head, might not inspire confidence among voters,” it concludes.The Telegraph: Changing patterns of voter behaviourFor The Telegraph, the main takeaway from Thursday’s result is that traditional ways of understanding why people vote the way they do may no longer be as relevant. “By increasing its vote base in India’s most populous state by 2 per cent compared to 2017 — even though it has won fewer seats this time — the country’s most dominant political force in half a century has underscored that it is still on the rise. Analysed using traditional metrics of voter behaviour, this can appear surprising. Joblessness has increased in Uttar Pradesh, with its employment rate falling, according to recent data. The horrors of the second wave of Covid-19, amplified by the mismanagement of that crisis by the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi and the Yogi Adityanath administration in Uttar Pradesh, are less than a year old. It is unlikely that people have forgotten the apocalyptic scenes of bodies floating down the Ganga.”“Yet, the stunning victory of the BJP is in keeping with growing evidence that Indian voting patterns are no longer determined by factors that have in the past been seen as decisive. The ruling party likes to insist that Mr Modi has helped it build a coalition of voters that is caste agnostic. If this support base also appears impervious to poor performance on social and economic indicators, that is reflective of a deeper faith in the BJP’s brand of politics. Muscular nationalism that also translates into tough law-and-order talk is a winner, while soothing words and a soft touch are signs of weakness. The construction of a temple and religious corridors is the promise that matters the most; an improved quality of life can wait.”