ELECTIONS TO INDIAN PARLIAMENT 2019 - PART 3
The basic mistake of the BJP, in the two southern states
where it lost heavily, is the over dependence on a few issues which it was
trying to encash for political victory in the hustings. However, the
party failed to read the ground realities correctly. The choice of
candidates for the constituencies also created a flutter among local people who
felt that the candidate was being foisted on them. The famed approach of
the national president of the BJP had failed in these two states. In
Kerala the party was rooting for the Sabarimala issue which brought the voters
in drove to vote for the UDF and not to the BJP.
Likewise, the corruption as an issue in Tamilnadu steeped in corruption for over five decades did not cut much ice with the voters. The main opposition party in the state successfully used the shooting incident in the town where the missionaries backed protesters were fighting for closure of the private industrial unit to target the ruling party in the state and center. This was the main reason for the people of the constituency to elect allegedly one of the most corrupt persons to the parliament from that constituency. In another constituency, the BJP could not match the money power and influence of the former union minister whose son was contesting the election, despite many corruption charges and cases against him.
In Tamilnadu, the party did not realize the ground realities from the beginning and start to work for changing the people's perceptions about the party. The main opposition party in the state had successfully created a smoke screen and built a negative narrative about the BJP from 2014 itself and squarely laid the blame for all ills of the state at its door steps. The various issues that are plaguing the state like the Gail pipeline, Cauvery Water Management Board, drilling for methane gas in the delta area, Koodankulam nuclear plant, Sterlite Copper plant, NEET exam, unemployment of the educated youth were all cleverly directed against the center and its policies were blamed by the state opposition party. A negative narrative about the Prime Minister was also built up in the five-year period of the NDA rule in the center. The BJP on its part did not rejuvenate its cadre to counter these innuendos and try to educate the people from the beginning.
The people of the state enjoying freebies from different parties steeped in corruption for over five decades expected similar freebies from the ruling party in the center. The parties were vying with each other to woo the voters with promise of many freebies including money for voting for them. The BJP, on the other hand, steered clear of these corrupt practices. From the reports of the ECI, Tamilnadu ranks highest in the recovery of money, gold and silver during the period when the model code of conduct was in force. If the recovered money is close to 400 crores, one can easily imagine the amount of money that went un-recovered and used to influence voters.
Likewise, the corruption as an issue in Tamilnadu steeped in corruption for over five decades did not cut much ice with the voters. The main opposition party in the state successfully used the shooting incident in the town where the missionaries backed protesters were fighting for closure of the private industrial unit to target the ruling party in the state and center. This was the main reason for the people of the constituency to elect allegedly one of the most corrupt persons to the parliament from that constituency. In another constituency, the BJP could not match the money power and influence of the former union minister whose son was contesting the election, despite many corruption charges and cases against him.
In Tamilnadu, the party did not realize the ground realities from the beginning and start to work for changing the people's perceptions about the party. The main opposition party in the state had successfully created a smoke screen and built a negative narrative about the BJP from 2014 itself and squarely laid the blame for all ills of the state at its door steps. The various issues that are plaguing the state like the Gail pipeline, Cauvery Water Management Board, drilling for methane gas in the delta area, Koodankulam nuclear plant, Sterlite Copper plant, NEET exam, unemployment of the educated youth were all cleverly directed against the center and its policies were blamed by the state opposition party. A negative narrative about the Prime Minister was also built up in the five-year period of the NDA rule in the center. The BJP on its part did not rejuvenate its cadre to counter these innuendos and try to educate the people from the beginning.
The people of the state enjoying freebies from different parties steeped in corruption for over five decades expected similar freebies from the ruling party in the center. The parties were vying with each other to woo the voters with promise of many freebies including money for voting for them. The BJP, on the other hand, steered clear of these corrupt practices. From the reports of the ECI, Tamilnadu ranks highest in the recovery of money, gold and silver during the period when the model code of conduct was in force. If the recovered money is close to 400 crores, one can easily imagine the amount of money that went un-recovered and used to influence voters.
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