BJP Set to Win a Second Term Riding on the ‘Modi’ Wave

Narendra Modi is on the course to get to power once again, this time with a strong majority mandate as Bharatiya Janata Party is coming out with clear majority all across the country.

The exit polls released post elections also indicated that Modi is going to win the general election comfortably in what has been described as the largest democratic exercise ever held in the country with 900 million eligible voters. In the general election of 2014, BJP won 282 seats out of 543, becoming a single majority party in a fractious country, which is most often ruled by coalition governments.

The landslide victory also indicates the broader support of the people for Narendra Modi’s message of “sabka saath sabka vikas”, corruption-free governance and economic development for all Indians regardless of social class, keeping aside his communal image. Modi emerged more powerful than his party and was long been favored to win the election, with the existing diverse political opposition, which also lacks a leader of anywhere near Modi’s stature.

Though everything was also not good in his governance, last year BJP’s loss in state elections also indicated that the government is vulnerable on economic issues, which reinvigorated the opposition led by the Congress party and its President Rahul Gandhi followed by Trinamool Congress party and its leader Mamata Banerjee, who took the responsibility to unite all other opposition parties thereby forming a ‘Mahagatbandhan’.

Modi’s decisions, particularly demonetisation in 2016, the decision to eliminate most of the cash in particular the denomination of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in circulation, although being referred as an anti-corruption measure, but has been called into question as it has kneecapped small businesses and worsened distress among a big segment of the working class population that transacts mainly in hard currency.

Though India’s economy has continued to grow at a respectable annual rate of at least 6%, but rising in the level of unemployment reflected Modi had failed to meet his sweeping promises of giving jobs to the millions of educated young people entering the workforce every year.

But since he came to power in 2014, Modi displayed his grasp of public opinion, which he has acquired as a worker at a grass root level as a Pracharak of RSS, by connecting directly with the people through his Radio show ‘Mann ki baat’ and several programmes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan going beyond the conventional way.

Retaining faith in his decision in the optics of demonetisation and the Good and Services Tax or GST rollout he continued to focus on good governance. His foreign tours were ridiculed, but they have no doubt built a strong image of India in the west and other countries of the world.

After Pulwama attack, Modi’s decision to conduct the airstrike on Balakot camps deep inside Pakistan within 20 days forced the oppositions plot to malign him to the corner and he came out victorious with an image of a strong leader, which also provided the people of India a sense of newfound pride, which is also attributed to Narendra Modi.