Changing Perception and Fortunes

Alok Chouhary

(The writer can be reached at choudharyalok834@gmail.com)

It takes very long to build up a perception but these perceptions, if not maintained takes very few time to fade away. Similarly, politics is all about perception games where elections are won by building new perception and it can be lost with changing perceptions. The results of the assembly elections of the 5 states are declared and it indicates the same changing perceptions. These elections which was closely watched by political pundits as the semifinal for the upcoming 2019 general elections can be clearly seen as a setback for BJP and an unprecedented comeback for congress. The BJP was in power in the three states- Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh and it was surely not a cakewalk for BJP to win these states as they were not the challenger (unlike other states where they won mostly), here the BJP was incumbent and a defender. Even if exit polls are to be believed, most of them showed BJP rout out from Rajasthan, victory in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh somehow going to BJP but the actual results proved to be an exit for BJP in all the states.

This outcome may have been because of local factors but there are other dimensions also which needs to be seen. These electoral verdict showed that the issue of farmers is still relevant in our nation especially in Hindi heartlands, and farmers distress needs to be dealt effectively be it the issue of MSP(Minimum selling price) or any other issue associated with them. Considering farmers distress, a small political factor played spoilsport for BJP and these states. The unpopular belief that public can bear the burn of inflation for some time with changing market scenario also turned wrong as the results shows that inflation was a major factor which Backfired ruling BJP. As in recent times, inflation surged dramatically especially fuel prices which directly influence voters. There is a need to keep a tight check on inflation. Also, it needs to be analyzed effectively whether the policies and the welfare schemes initiated from New Delhi reaches the underprivileged and needy one or not . If policies made are not delivered to the needy one, it will swing voters away. The major failure of the government which is apparent that despite the initiatives like Make in India, Skill India, the state of employment is not impressive and the much hyped Make In India is yet to show its impact at a large scale. Land accusation bill which will form the space for Make in India to become a game changer is still to be passed from Rajya Sabha and the government needs to find out a way to pass it. A lot of first time voters in these state elections were unhappy with the government policies on employment and this resulted in youth desalinating from BJP. As per information available on the official website of the Centre for Monitoring Economy, there are currently 31 million unemployed Indians looking for Jobs and a lot of them were the voters from these states which turned out against BJP.

In addition to all these, the spate of using religion and Hindutva brand as a tool to garner votes also shirked two set of voters away from BJP- One who don’t want religion to be excessively used and they want to see political discourse only centered round Development and the one who are religious hardliners who always voted BJP on religious plank but now they see government soft stance on Ram Temple issues. Both set of voters are unhappy with BJP which altogether hampered the prospects of BJP. Playing ‘Hindutva” card everywhere costed BJP hard as the religious issues are now limited to a small section and BJP need to admit that it was relevant in a large portion of India during 1992 Ram temple movement but today situation and time has changed. The yardstick of development and religion can’t work together everywhere and they need to reconsider the use of Yogi Adityanath in upcoming poll campaign.

For Congress, these elections are like their revival in the Indian politics and in 2019 we may not witness a one sided contest as expected earlier. However, the brand “Modi” is still the most towering political personality but to keep this intact, voter’s sentiment needs to be understand.

The public message is very clear and loud “Walk the Talk”.