Political see-saw
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 06, 2024 -
WITH most political analysts and opinion polls predicting a comfortable win for the ruling Bharatiya janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the 18th Lok Sabha election; Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is eying for a third term in office, had given the catchy slogan of "Abki baar 400 paar,” in the early part of his campaign for the seven-phase election.
The confidence level of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was such that he had declared that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the ruling parties would cross the 400-seat mark in a house of 543 parliamentary seats, with the BJP alone winning 370.
In the absence of a strong opposition party/parties, whose Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, commonly known by its acronym INDIA bloc, had already started showing signs of crumbling months before the crucial national elections, it appeared Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing the right thing as there is none to challenge him in the electoral battle.
Undiminishing popularity of Modi among the masses, push for strong economic growth, handouts and even the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya were seen to be enough for the people of India to decide on giving a vote of confidence for the BJP and its allies, as BJP’s l-T department head Amit Malviya had stated once.
However, in the light of persistent attacks of the opposition alliance, which is becoming hard to ignore and the low voter turnout recorded in the election so far, which might act as roadblock to the effort of achieving the landslide victory predicted by opinion polls just one month ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party colleagues seem to have re-oriented their focus and attention as could be seen from their change of tack in campaign speeches, which are now more to do with firing up the Hindu voters, the party's support base, to come out for voting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has started talking about the failure of IND A Bloc to put up a prime ministrial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing election rallies for the BJP candidates in Sangali and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituencies in Maharashtra on Friday (May 3), Amit Shah discouraged the people to vote for the INDIA bloc candidates by saying, "If the Opposition comes to power, the growth story of India will be halted again. people should not allow it at any cost. The country feels safe and secure under Modi’s leadership.-”
Even if it returns to power, this comment of Amit Shah could be interpreted as the ruling party’s admittance of falling short of achieving the “Abki baar 400 paar” target already, especially after by some of its allies for the southern push brought embarrassment to all.
So, it’s no surprise that “senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had reacted swiftly by asserting that “If you have a coalition government of INDIA bloc, you are going to see, for the first time in a long while, a prime minister who is first among equals, who has to listen to others, take their point of the view into account and who would have to be a good manager.”
Coming from the mouth of someone who is known more for his eloquent use and command of the English language rather than political acumen, the allusion to a “good manager” as opposed to a “chaiwala” or a “chowkidar” is simply unmissable.
But pray tell us if the opposition parties, which are campaigning together or against each other now are going to join hands together after the day of reckoning on June 4, how would the people be able to trust and embrace them as a better alternative to a political party, which is ready to anything to remain in power?
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