New Delhi: Prime Minister Modi’s new strategy is to surround Parliament with new issues at every step.
No one seems to be sure how the Lok Sabha elections will play out. While the ruling party tries to appear satisfied, the opposition wants change. Experts are also in no position to say anything. Until now, both the ruling and opposition parties have been unable to raise the enthusiasm of voters. All parties seem confused about this issue. The election seemed likely to be one-sided as the ruling BJP took advantage of all issues.
But as soon as the elections were announced, the BJP strategists made a mistake. Perhaps they thought that everything would happen naturally. Opposition parties also gave up after the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram’s idol was held at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. Congress leaders decided not to participate in the elections. A list of candidates has been prepared. Due to fear over Ayodhya, the Congress seemed unwilling to fight the elections. Candidates fought elections on their own. After relatively low turnout in the first and second phases, the activity of parliamentary leaders increased.
But while the opposition may be hopeful that there will be no wave, it is not claiming victory. However, with Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka, and party president Mallikarjun Kharge increasing their rallies, Congress’ expectations are starting to rise.
The question is why a unilateral election suddenly turned out like this. Although the outcome is not yet predictable, the BJP has certainly made a strategic mistake in holding the Ram Lalla idol consecration in January instead of the Ram Navami consecration in April, which would have been a boon for the party. It would have helped. After that, no Ayodhya movement took place in the country.
The election was centered around Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead of Ayodhya and Ram. The 400 plus slogan has gotten bigger. The BJP leaders and workers have concluded that there is no need to do anything now. I don’t think it’s the right decision to issue a ticket without evaluating it. For example, VK Singh from Ghaziabad and Rahul Kaswan from Churu in Rajasthan were not given tickets. Both leaders have clean images. VK Singh’s dismissal angered the Rajputs. Rahul Kaswan quickly joined the Congress and got a ticket. Jat tribes were already angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan, and caste politics intensified in the state.
Union Minister Purushottam Rupala’s statement on Rajputs caused discontent among Rajputs across the country and caste politics became an issue across the country.
It appears that the opposition party’s message that the reservation will be lifted if the BJP is elected is starting to have an impact on the ground. A message has been sent to the tehsil level that the BJP will abolish reservations. This influence was also felt in the first phase of voting. So everyone from Prime Minister Modi to the entire Bharatiya Janata Party changed their strategies. Instead of emphasizing the 400+ slogan, they started emphasizing that reservations would not be abolished. From there, the election turned to new issues. Meanwhile, Congress and the entire INDI alliance made abolition of reservations a major issue. The BJP and RSS were able to control the situation only till the third phase.
Prime Minister Modi then started focusing on the campaign against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Everything from the Congress’s election manifesto to old incidents was highlighted to accuse the Congress of Islamic appeasement. Congress has fallen into its own trap.
Controversial statements by Sam Pitroda and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, close aides to the Gandhi family, did not help matters. The BJP took issue with their remarks. It is clear from Prime Minister Modi’s new strategy that he will target the Congress at every step and surround it with new issues every time so that the election is seen as Modi versus Rahul.
