Page 10 - Tehelka Issue 13 - July 15, 2018

media hating Modi and Amit Shah The second strand was Amit
are often seen on television chan- Shah’s organizational work. BJP to-
nels exuding confidence of a much day has the most formidable election
larger numerical win to the Lok apparatus that any political party
Sabha. Media has been tamed and has had in India at any point of time.
government machinery is instructed There are regional variance like Left
to only sing peons of the dispensa- in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu
tion’s achievements. with strong organisations. Congress
Rewind to 2004 when BJP was in is a mass based party, has never
power at the centre with their ‘India relied on organizational aspects
Shining’ campaign, the question in what Rahul Gandhi is now look-
the masses that stayed was ‘What did ing at. BJP today is a party at the
the common man get’. So regardless national level having components more inclusive today and has made
of what BJP slogan in 2019 will be, like quantitative expansion of the a conscious effort to attract the
Modi’s stand will be that a lot of work membership base (claims to be the subaltern into the Hindu fold and
has been left, of continuing journey, largest political party larger than the carve out this multi caste coalition
delivering by 2022 what had been Chinese communist party), quali- by including sub castes and back-
promised in 2014, 2019. Yet Modi will tative change in the relationship ward castes.
have to answer a lot of questions not Finally as political pundits say
just from the media but the voters BJP shed the there is a strong element of com-
too. From soaring unemployment munal polarization. BJP is a party
and job losses, stifling of MNERGA invincibility that allegedly stokes hatred on the
forcing rural labour to migrate to factor when it ground, uses lies, deception, propa-
cities, not raising the minimum sup- ganda to make the Hindu voter an-
port prices for farmers. The voters at lost elections gry, bitter, resentful of the Muslims
the end of the day will ask what did in Kairana, and all other parties and portray
they get. The government and PM them as sympathetic to only Mus-
Modi keep publicizing projects like Gorakhpur, lim interests which helps them con-
LPG scheme and bank accounts to Phulpur in UP, struct a majority vote. The reason
show that people are getting some- they succeed is because secularism
thing tangible in their hand. Abstract Araria in Bihar is dead on the ground particularly
notions such as black money being in the hindi heartland ie north, west
curbed or India becoming cleaner and bypolls in and central India.
are unlikely to get votes. Rajasthan and
There were few reasons for Invincibility factor
BJP’s success in 201. First was the Madhya Pradesh The invincibility factor is rising by
prime minister’s image consciously the day as the realization of slow-
reinvented in the past decade from down in growth has sunk in the
a strong Hindu leader in 2002 to a between the party high command masses. Whether it will have elec-
‘development man’ from 2007-14, and the party grassroots, emphasis toral consequence will have to be
promising jobs and growth. Modi’s on booth level management and seen but it has made them vulner-
new image, which is being created activating booth level workers, fre- able. Modi’s multiclass alliance rests
for past two years, is that of a leader quent mass contact, propaganda on growth, on jobs and welfare and
of poor and common people. His blitzkrieg, resource mobilization in as the government has not been able
speeches now emphasize on rural an unprecedented scale. Then the to deliver on any of these 3 they are
india, poor Indians, agriculture, poor RSS provides the organizational sup- going to face challenges.
farmers. It’s a conscious image de- port with a high degree of conver- Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman
velopment because in 2014 they lost gence between the sangh, a source of says India’s growth story could be
Delhi and Bihar because of their im- their world view and their personnel derailed by lack of jobs. The econo-
age as a party focused more on the with its network of pracharaks and a mist says India has made rapid
well-to-do, the upper middle class lot of sympathisers to build its opin- progress but economic inequality
and corporates. Through demoneti- ion for the BJP and mobilize voters in the country remains elusive. He
zation and other bold moves, Modi on the final polling day. has compared India’s corruption to
was able to carve out a multi class The BJP, which used to be known neighboring China. ‘You cannot be-
appeal and alliance. an upper caste party, is somewhat come Denmark with Chinese levels

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