Thread by @realitycheckind

hmm... Imagine that Left+Congress went to ZERO in WB and lost KL big and broke the anti-incumbency pattern. They arent crying. BJP guys groan they went from 0 to 77.

Today I think CON is just a vehicle for #IOI/#D. Maybe that vehicle can speak better through TMC/DMK/Shivasena

https://twitter.com/timesofindia/status/1399783165502259202

Cannot overstate this phenom! You can see the dramatic difference in attitude of Mitrons who are crushed at a poll loss. WB/KL scarcely made a dent even for a minute. They are in high spirits because the backend can talk and project power though others.

Another phenom I found hard to explain - many CON Losses are dramatic, that is inconsistent with the normal decay you will find in purely democratic process.

BJP slides, CON wipes out.

Eg in Delhi for 10 yrs not a single MLA from a 15 yr reign . all lost deposits < 4% voteshr

This is quite odd. To me it is an indicator that there is a backend 'recall' power that is able to at-will transfer to any group -- even if that means wipe out of Congress. No change that a natural slide can result in such dramatic wipeouts and not accompanied by any grief.

Last few tweets before switching to Tam keyboard.. if you look at TN trajectory of CON, today they are nothing but sidekicks -- on stage they say 'black shirt inside, white shirt outside' ; at some point they can just discard that white shirt. Similar trajectory in India.

At some point CON value-add could have been working the levers of Supreme Court and pushing #IdeaOfIndia type jurisprudence, Media control, International links. But over time this value-add decays --

#IOI juris needs adventurous pioneer lawyers to start - but when established. Time will firmly plant that jurisprudenc, then you dont need those lawyers like sibal etc.
Media/International - regionals have their own now. Eg DMK is second to none in media power / international.

Added to that commercialization factor by PR firms like prashant kishore, a lot of the mystique of Delhi PR circuit is gone. The Delhi 'liberal intelligentsia' no longer has to bat for but just bat against BJP. That is a far far less value.