Why has PM Modi suddenly turned aggressive and trying to hold onto his core constituency by raising Muslim-Hindu issues and creating a fear among the electorate about Congress coming to power?
While many say that the results being a forgone conclusion “Modi hi Ayega,” “where is a credible alternative?”, most voters were not enthused to come out and vote. Not that there was any particular antipathy towards Modi nor were they were vying for Rahul Gandhi.
But that is exactly what must be weighing on the mind of the PM because there does not seem to be any pro-BJP/NDA wave. Actually, there does not seem to be any wave at all.
This is more worrying because one does not get to know what is in the mind of the voter. The voter is keeping his preference close to his chest. This may go either way and that is what is creating the tension.
But will it be favourable to the BJP/NDA or are the voters being carried away by the newly formed INDIA’s anti-PM propaganda? The answers will be found only on June 4, when the results will be declared.
But taking no chances Modi has taken an aggressive tone and is hitting Congress by making statements like Congress is planning to make a survey of your property and your money with X-Ray, find out about all your valuables including the “mangal sutras” of ladies and what you have in your lockers and distribute to the minorities like Muslims and others.
The mangal sutra jibe received a fitting reply from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her mother Sonia Gandhi had given their mangal sutra and other gold to the nation.
The other more valid argument which was given was that in more than half a century of Congress rule no attempt had been to find and take the valuables and property of the citizens. The people should not believe in the canard being spread by the Prime Minister.
What the Congress’s point is that they want to change the stark financial inequalities seen in society and therefore they would like to carry out a survey.
Modi has also charged that Congress wants to carve out reservation meant for OBC SC and ST and give it to Muslims.
Modi also attacks Congress saying that it will impose an Inheritance Tax though Congress denies it.
What is unnerving the Modi strategists is that Rahul Gandhi has made a changeover. His “Pappu” image which the BJP assiduously tried to broadcast all over seems to be coming back to haunt them.
Pappu seems to be no more a shifty-eyed political novice on whose innocent utterances they used to laugh out loud, but now looks at you straight in the face and comes out with questions that can be uncomfortable to the ruling party. He is addressing massive rallies, holding press conferences and directly questioning the government.
The INDIA bloc wants to bring the discourse of the election to issues relevant to the common people like employment and price rise. It is charging that Modi is avoiding these issues even though he had promised 2 crore jobs and Rs.15 lakh in every pocket by getting the black money stashed abroad.
Secondly and more importantly they are charging the government on the Election Bonds issue calling it a big scam. When it is pointed out that the Opposition parties too got money through election bonds, the Opposition is able to point out that they are not in power and therefore cannot give any benefits quid pro quo to those who paid money, unlike the government. They also come out with facts and figures allegedly charging the government of making electoral bonds a means of extortion.
Now with the INDIA bloc continuously harping on election bonds, price rise, and unemployment considered to be rampant in the country, particularly among the youth, the BJP/NDA fears that these bread and butter issues may effect their electoral fortunes.
There may be another fear too that while all television channels are showing their comfortable victory there is hardly any opposing view point, can they be believed? Are they credible?
Bringing in the issue of Muslims would definitely mean that the BJP/NDA wants to polarise the elections. But why?
This could only mean that either the internal surveys of BJP/NDA may be showing a poorer performance than the slogan of 400 plus being made and the poor voting percentage must have further riddled the BJP/NDA strategists forcing them to redraw their plans.
Without polarising or bringing out any emotive issue the election may have been seen to be going the other way.
Here we come back to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara where he is supposed to have referred to Manmohan Singh’s statement that Muslims have the first right on the country’s assets.
This was definitely meant to consolidate Hindu voters on the one hand and create antipathy or fear about Congress coming back to power.
PM Modi in the speech was alluding to a comment by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2006 at a meeting of the National Development Council on fiscal priorities of the government.
During that time Dr. Manmohan’s statement had created controversy and it had been clarified then that the reference to “first claim on resources” refers to all the “priority” areas including programmes for the upliftment of SCs, STs, OBCs, women and children and minorities, and it was mischievously being misinterpreted.
Manmohan Singh was talking about devising innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development.
At that time too the Opposition’s idea was to demonstrate that the Congress believed in Muslim appeasement and thereby wanted to consolidate its Hindu voters, but at that time BJP was in Opposition, now the BJP is in power, then why does it have to rake up this topic?
Rahul Gandhi’s charge is that Modi wants to divert the attention of the public from the issues.
The question is how will the public of India which consists of both Hindus and Muslims besides other communities be swayed by this when they go to vote ?
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