Page 15 - 15JUNE2019E

Mandate
election 2018

advised Gandhi that Modi’s greatest asset is his im- the third basic mistake
age of incorruptibility. In his wisdom, Gandhi decided
to attack that image and tear it into shreds. But the that Rahul committed was
Congress president was pleased as punch with his
“chowkidar chor hai” slogan and announced even to assume that the Gandhi
before the elections were complete that Congress
has dismantled the idea of Narendra Modi. It was
never true because brand Modi has become the big- surname still carries
gest brand in body political. Little doubt that voters
remained unimpressed by Rahul’s repeated jibes of weight knowing fully well
corruption against Modi on Rafale deal. The charge
that institutions were being destroyed by BJP did not that Modi had dismantled
find any takers amongst the voters. It is a strategy to
level corruption allegations without proof to back it this with his oft-repeated
up, it is foolish still to do so against a leader who enjoys
a high degree of public trust. Naturally, the electorate
went against the Congress campaign that relied on epithet of “naamdaar”
negativity. The third basic mistake that Rahul com-
mitted was to assume that the Gandhi surname still
carries weight knowing fully well that Modi had dis-
mantled this with his oft-repeated epithet of “naam-
daar”. He may not have understood that 45 million
first-time voters in these Lok Sabha elections have tion between Trinamool and the BJP, as there was no
no foggy notions about the dynasty. In fact, dynasties understanding between the Congress and the Left.
have lost everywhere-be it the Mulayam Singh Ya- Sabarimala undercurrent helped the UDF electorally
dav family in Uttar Pradesh, the Parkash Singh Badal in Kerala, where Rahul Gandhi contesting from Way-
family in Punjab, the Om Parkash Chautala family in anad also consolidated the minority votes behind the
Haryana and so on. They hate entitled dynasts and in Congress.
Modi have found an an embodiment of their belief
that hard work and aspiration bring success. Modi, the Amit Shah: How BJPs modern-day Chanakya built a
consummate politician understood this and tailored bigger Modi magic 2019?
his message accordingly. It would be interesting to decipher and decode how
When Prime Minister attacked Congress party Chanakya of Bharatiya Janta Party generated a much
saying that even former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gan- bigger and decisive Modi wave in election 2019 by
dhi had ended up as “bharishtachaari number 1”, the building a narrative resolving around nationalism.
Congress tried to hit back and played the victim part An analysis by BHARAT HITeSHI
as it some wrong had been done to the party and its A political fighter to the core, Amit Shah’s biggest
former assassinated leader. Rahul and his sister, Pri- strength is his political astuteness combined with
yanka Gandhi, played the victim card when attacked organizational capabilities. Having risen through the
reminding voters about the sacrifices made by Gandhi ranks since starting at the booth-level for the party in
family is it, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi. Rahul and Gujarat at the age of 14 years, Shah is a firm believer in
his sister Priyanka talked of insult to the late leader, the prerequisite of a strong ground-level organisa-
their father, over BJP’s strategy to target the Gandhi tional machinery for poll successes.
family, people did not support them. These are classic And when he gave the BJP the target to win over
signs that Congress is out touch with reality but in a 20 seats in West Bengal, a few believed this could be
party that still retains an inherently feudal structure possible but he knew that he could do. The reason-
and high command culture. It also proves that BJP his trust in his own strategy, his party workers and
is more grounded, has built a strong cadre base and his aim to offset the possible losses in some states.
in this election has crossed the majority mark on its He knew that the BJP had to compensate from West
own. It poll narrative centered on nationalism has Bengal if there were losses in other states like Uttar
worked for the party in a big way in the 2019 Lok Sab- Pradesh and three Hindi speaking states from where
ha elections. Congress had registered victories in assembly elec-
Similarly, the lack of electoral understanding be- tions. His next target is now the 2021 Assembly elec-
tween the Left parties and Congress helped the BJP tion in West Bengal.
make big gains in West Bengal. There was a polarisa- However, his second strategy was to focus on Uttar

tehelka / 15 June 2019 15 www.tehelka.com