Why the Delhi Elections Couldn’t Have Gone Wrong
Probably not many elections for a union territory have generated the interest that the 2015 elections for New Delhi have. Given the apathy a lot of us in India are susceptible to, the interest India has showed in these elections has been huge. There are exceptions of course, like when Narendra Modi’s “wave” swept BJP into power to form the National Government in 2014.
Showdown between AAP and BJP
But nothing prepared India for the contest at Delhi. Reality was taking the shape of a political thriller-movie.
Negative campaigns, appeals to the Election Commission and money laundering charges filled the news almost every other day. Blogs and and battles on social networks by supporters filled social media’s gigantic aquarium. AAP was already notorious with Kejriwal’s reputation of resigning within 49 days of being voted into power last year.
There was hardly a day that went by without AAP taking hits, what with party members quitting and BJP recruiting Kiran Bedi, one of Kejriwal’s old comrades. Bedi, backed by the ruling party, with the Prime Minister himself holding rallies like no tomorrow, seemed ready to storm the polls.
Come the 10th of February, and by the time most of the country had finished lunch, AAP had won 67 out of the 70 seats. BJP barely managed to clutch 3 seats from the AAP-tornado.
Arvind Kejriwal is now ready to be sworn in as Chief Minister. While newspapers and analysts come up with reasons why AAP won such an overwhelming number of seats, the Christ-follower is mostly relieved. Why not? Ever since the current national government has come up, hostility against Christian and other minorities is being slowly unveiled. So if you are a regular Christian like me, you would have preferred BJP to not win at Delhi.
But the Delhi elections could not have gone wrong no matter who got elected.
Babylon and New Delhi
To explain why, let’s turn to an almost forgotten kingdom called Babylon.
Delhi has a democratic party for the next 5 years. Babylon had a monarch called Nebuchadnezzar.
One of Babylon’s most powerful emperors, he conquered entire countries, not just party seats, through war. Nebuchadnezzar had no opposition parties. His opposition mostly held funerals, if he chose to let them live. This monarch who was infamous for his oppression (Dan 4:27), also had destroyed Jerusalem, and had carried off many of God’s people to Babylon.
Remove all courts of law from the present-day United States and throw in a tyrant indefinitely. Even that would have nothing on the terror Nebuchadnezzar was.
Nebuchadnezzar led Babylon to it’s pinnacle of splendour and beauty (Dan 4:30) and he was mighty proud of it. And who wouldn’t be, right?
Nothing prepared him for the humiliation he was going to go through.
Though one of God’s people among the exiles Daniel, warned him, Nebuchadnezzar had no change of heart over ‘his’ achievements. The Bible records that one fine day, a voice from above spoke this to him, “The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox.. until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”(Dan 4:31,32).
Basically God had decided that Nebby’s time was up.
And that is what exactly happens to Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Thankfully he realised his folly and at the end of his own exile, recorded words that acknowledge who really is in authority and in control (Dan 4:34,35).
The Inerrancy of the Delhi elections
Just like this emperor of old, we forget that it is the Creator, the God of the Bible, who elects rulers and chief ministers. This is not a denial of the power to vote, in fact we must do all that is right to ensure the right leaders are chosen, but we will never be able to out-do God or choose above what God has already planned.
Jesus is in control of everything we see. We need to align our lives with His plans revealed in the Bible, whether they “seem” good or plain bad. He is trustworthy because we know His love for his people as displayed on the cross where He gave up his life to pay for their sins.
Even if God removed this democracy itself and placed bad ol’ Nebuchadnezzar to reign in New Delhi, the Delhi elections could not have gone wrong because God chose it.
So, it is a good thing that AAP has won the elections at Delhi.
But if it was BJP who won this elections, should our hearts sulk a while?
Would we doubt the goodness, might and wisdom of our Lord?
