Modi Ki Guarantee Works For The BJP
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-12-05 03:19:10
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The India Commentary view
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The strong show by the BJP in the state elections - the party bucked anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh and defeated incumbent Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh - shows that the charisma and vote-catching power of Prime Minister Modi has not diminished. For, the BJP did not declare the chief ministerial candidate in any of the three states and asked for votes citing Modi's record of development and good governance.
Despite the fact that Rajasthan has a record of voting out incumbent governments every five years, the victory in the state was especially significant for the party as outgoing chief minister Ashok Gehlot had pulled all stops, used his vast political acumen and handed out doles as if the state treasury was bottomless. The other important fact going against the party was that the state unit was a divided house. Yet, the party managed to up its vote share by 4% from what it got in 2018 and won 115 seats. Although the vote share of the Congress also increased marginally, it lost 31 seats. This clearly proved that the electorate was not impressed with Gehlot's big welfare push.
In Madhya Pradesh, it was an even stronger show. The party bucked anti-incumbency and ran a helpless Congress, despite two stalwarts - Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh - running its campaign, to ground. The BJP increased its vote share by 7.4% compared to 2018 and won an impressive 163 seats. The slogan 'MP Ke Mann Mein Modi' hit the bull's eye and the party won by big margins in areas where PM Modi held rallies. Shivraj Singh Chouhan's welfare schemes and the Ladli Behna epithet for women voters also worked in favour of the party as there was a 2% increase in the number of women voters who, by all accounts, voted for the BJP. The BJP's tribal outreach also worked as tribal votes shifted from the Congress to the BJP.
In Chhattisgarh, ground reports and most exit polls had predicted a Congress win. But proving all of them wrong, the BJP delivered a stellar show by increasing its vote share by a huge 13.3% and won 54 seats. The Congress was reduced to just 35, almost half of what it won in 2018. Despite doling out many freebies, outgoing chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and the party had to contend with anti-incumbency and deep division in the state unit. The results show that the party failed to overcome them. Also, the BJP's tribal outreach paid handsome dividends as the party swept Bastar and Surguja, traditional bastions of the Congress.
The results showed that in most states where there is a one-to-one fight between the Congress and the BJP, the former does not have the firepower or the policies to counter Prime Minister Modi's growing popularity. 'Modi Ki Guarantee' is proving to be stronger and more attractive than whatever doles the Congress dishes out or promises.
