Page 38 - 15MAY2019E

Most of the campaigns

lose steam as poll

marathon crosses midway

Voter’s neutrality may be noticed across Delhi as the country’s Rahul and his sister, Priyanka, are
opposition parties have failed to challenge the government on trying to correct the mistakes of their
mother, Sonia, who continues to con-
economic issues. The criticism of the demonetization has only trol the party structure across the
furthered class antagonism, reports gopal misra country. In this backdrop, the ongoing
challenge from the Congress Party to
uch before India’s capi- mustering a formidable political alli- the leadership of Narendra Modi needs
tal Delhi is scheduled ance with the regional outfits, whether more focus on issues than in indulging
to go for polls next it is Aam Admi Party in Delhi or the SP- verbal unsubstantiated accusations.
month, apathy towards BSP alliance in UP. Rahul’s attempt to However, the BJP brand nationalism, its
M the ongoing country- portray a pro-Hindu image by wearing core pitch to retain power too appears
wide parliamentary elections appears pious thread too is not helping his par- to have diluted.
to have gripped the common people ty’s candidates in the BJP-strong Hindi The Election Commission, however,
here. Few now discuss the poll issues heartland. can claim that the total voter turnout
which with each passing day appear to In Andhra Pradesh, despite olive so far has been substantial. In the third
have waned, if not totally lost. There are phase too it was 63.24 per cent. All 543
few corner meetings in localities even seats would be counted on May 23 after
having substantial presence of senior The ongoing end of the seven-phase polling on May
citizens, which were centre of warm challenge from the 19. The participation of an estimated
discussions. 1.5 crore young voters in the age group
The short and focused poll talks with Congress to the of 18-19 years, who are voting for the
professionals while traveling in the first time across the seven phases
Delhi Metro too have lost the political leadership of Modi will be crucial in many constituencies.
steam. One may find them just play- needs more focus In the last general elections in 2014,
ing computer games on their smart more than 55 crore Indians had voted
phones. This voter neutrality may be on issues than in (66.3 per cent) with the BJP emerging
noticed just after conclusion of the indulging verbal victorious with little over 30 per cent
third phase of the national elections. votes, giving a five-year mandate to
The polling for more than half of the unsubstantiated a government led by Prime Minister
seats of the 543-strong Lok Sabha is accusations Narendra Modi.
finished. Both Modi and Rahul have failed to
The poll-related violence saw death take up economic issues. Modi talks
of two persons in Andhra Pradesh first branch from Jagan, he could not revive about national security and some flag-
phase, when the country exercised its party ties with the young leader, who ship schemes, but seldom mentions
democratic options to elect 91 seats was falsely framed in the CBI enquiry what has happened to make in India.
for the Lok Sabha. The challenge to the with the connivance of the Telugu The Indian markets have been dumped
five-year-old Modi regime continues Desham supremo, Chandra Babu with Chinese consumer goods brought
to be fragmented. The Congress Party Naidu and P. Chidambaram, who had both legally and illegally destroying
under its new president, Rahul, contin- supported a Public Interest Litigation small, medium and cottage industries.
ues to be in dilemma in opposing the (PIL) before the Andhra Pradesh High Rahul offers 72,000 per year char-
ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) by Court. ity to the poor, but does not talk about

Tehelka / 15 may 2019 38 www.Tehelka.com