Modi mania on the wane?

Hyderabad: Muslims, mutton, mangalsutra, machhali (fish), mujra, Hindu-Muslim, Gandhi’s identity, Indian Constitution and reservations were the top issues which formed part of Modi’s narrative during his aggressive campaign in the recently held Lok Sabha polls.

But this did not seem to have gone well with the people and the turnout was poor. Worried, Modi harped on the development agenda and laced it with religious issues to see that the BJP at least gets the magic figure on its own.

Modi was seen changing his campaign style and narrative with every phase of elections. But finally, the BJP failed to reach the magic figure on its own, while the INDIA bloc had gained by about 100 seats and was chasing the BJP as counting progressed.

The political comments made by Modi, who is branded as a ‘rabble-rouser’ in Indian politics, did not appear to have interested the voters.

Initially, Prime Minister Modi was confident of continuing his winning streak by advocating “Sabka Saath Sab Ka Vikas’ slogan in the elections. His diatribe against opposition, mainly targeting the Gandhi family and its pro-Muslim decisions in the previous Congress-led government during the first phase of polls held for 100 seats in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Assam left the saffron party disappointed. His criticism of Congress manifesto and achievements of BJP did not cut much ice with the voters. The outcome was also disappointing, except in Madhya Pradesh and parts of Bihar for Modi. BJP did not win even a single seat in Tamil Nadu.

Sensing the party was losing ground, Modi launched a vitriolic attack on Congress by targeting religious issues. In the second phase, the PM warned that the Congress will take away their wealth and give it first to Muslims. He said that Congress had adopted ‘Majlis agenda’. This helped the BJP gain some advantage in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh during the second phase and open its account in Kerala.

In the remaining five phases, Modi’s political rhetoric revolved around “Muslim, mutton, mangalsutra machhali (fish), mujra, Hindu-Muslim,” etc. Modi used these words extensively to polarise the voters on religious lines. In phase three the BJP won a good number of seats in Gujarat, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. However, it could not gain much in Maharashtra.

In the fourth phase, Modi’s charisma played a key role in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He focused mainly on development and KCR’s corruption in Telangana and failure of YSRCP in AP. He also highlighted his commitment to the Indian Constitution and assured to protect its sanctity at any cost. The BJP increased its tally to eight from four in Telangana.

The PM had gone aggressive in the fifth and sixth phase of elections held in 110 seats in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Odisha.

He allayed apprehensions on reservations and affirmed the BJP’s commitment to respect the rights of SC and ST communities and said that till he is alive he will not allow reservations on the basis of religion. Though it might have helped them in Odisha, the plot seemed to have gone awry in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The seventh phase of elections were held in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand, which drew mixed results. The opposition parties have shown their upper hand in other states in the last phase elections.

Frequent TV interviews on national media channels and his comments on Hindu-Muslim and Mahatma Gandhi’s identity triggered a big national debate during the election period. But all the rhetoric employed by Modi did not help the party to form government on its own, having had to fall back on the support of alliance partners.