BJP’s political dominance likely to last ‘at least 20 years’: Pollster Pradeep Gupta

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The BJP's current phase of political dominance, which began in 2014, is likely to last "at least 20 years", pollster Pradeep Gupta has said.

The Axis My India chief argued that the ruling party's position would remain secure as long as its governance performance does not weaken significantly.

Drawing a parallel with the long period of dominance once enjoyed by the Congress, Gupta suggested that Indian politics was witnessing another cycle of one-party predominance.

"There is a threshold in politics. Earlier, Congress ruled continuously till 1977. After that, it started facing difficulties. In those days, we used to talk about a political generation lasting around 20 years. That 20-year cycle will remain even now," Gupta told PTI in an interview on Wednesday, suggesting that the BJP could similarly remain the central pole of Indian politics for an extended period.

In his view, the future of both the ruling alliance and the opposition depended heavily on the performance of the incumbent government.

"After receiving such a massive mandate, expectations from the BJP have also increased. So the BJP and the NDA will now have to super perform," he said.

"Till the time their performance does not become weak or poor, they will keep winning and the opposition will keep losing," he added.

Gupta said the Congress continued to face the burden of what he described as "legacy issues" related to perceptions of past misgovernance, making its political recovery a longer process.

"Even if you talk about 2029, it would mean around 15 years (out of power for Congress). I feel it may take at least five more years for them to convince the entire country," he said.

At the same time, Gupta noted that political dominance also raised public expectations.

"When you reach great heights, there is also a tendency to come down later. BJP has also reached that stage where expectations from it have risen," he said. PTI