As the Lok Sabha elections draw near, contending political parties continue to up their ante as they go about wooing voters to their side. Given their huge pool of resources, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expectedly has the edge when it comes to campaigning across the nation although it cannot splurge beyond the cap on expenditure stipulated by the Election Commission of India. In sharp contrast, the BJP’s main challenger, albeit weakened since its glorious days, the Indian National Congress (INC) is hamstrung by the Income Tax department’s recent action of freezing the party’s main bank accounts after having raised a tax demand of Rs 210 crore for 2018-19. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh admitted in Guwahati on April 11 that the party was finding it difficult to support its candidates due to a cash crunch, blaming its plight on the central government.
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However, it is not money alone that will sway the voters although the commodity does act as an incentive. The issues matter, too and if one were to go by the just unveiled Lokniti-CSDS Pre-Poll Survey 2024, unemployment and inflation occupy a prime position as was generally believed. The pre-poll survey by the Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) has found that for 62 per cent of respondents across various demographics, including villages, towns, and cities securing employment has become increasingly challenging; the sentiment was more among men that women. The finding is in sharp contrast to the Centre’s claim that all is hunky-dory in the employment sector. However, the Centre can find some solace in the finding that 57 per cent of the respondents believe both the Centre and the states are accountable for this state of affair; 21 per cent held the Centre accountable. Also, as was to be expected, a vast majority of voters expressed a severe impact on their finances, with 71 per cent noting an increase in commodity prices. The revelation brings back images of BJP top guns, including then prime minister-in-the-making Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections heaping scorn on the then Congress-led UPA government for rising prices, and assuring to hold the price line if voted to power, but two terms down the line they appear to be looking down the same barrel.
What also ought to put the BJP somewhat on the back foot is that 55 per cent of respondents believe that corruption has increased over the past five years, with 25 per cent attributing it to the Centre and 16 per cent to the states. The BJP, it must be noted, is shouting itself hoarse as it goes about telling the electorate how the opposition parties, mainly the Congress, are steeped in corruption and looting the country while its mission is to develop the country. The party must answer then how corruption could have increased, if at all, as such perception could very well translate into votes to the party’s detriment. Another stick that the BJP has been beating the Opposition with is the issue of nepotism. Here, too, the survey finding cannot come as a happy augury for the saffron party. According to it, there was more or less equal support of the view that the BJP is less nepotistic compared to the Congress and that the BJP is as nepotistic as the Congress. Despite all this, the strengthening of Hindu identity and the BJP’s clear identification with the Ram Mandir issue could come to its aid in the final analysis.
