Post-Election Reflections: The Mandate, the Media, and the Middle Class

Now that the election is over and the exit poll results are out, tomorrow we will all know who has won the mandate. Like most Indians, I am a common, middle-class citizen for whom, regardless of who is in power, the changes have been so minuscule that we don’t realize their impact. I am one of those who feels it is our duty to exercise our right to vote, choosing those who are less evil or who have ideological or personality preferences while exercising this right. Like the life cycle of a human being, from sperm to grown adult, which has its own time frame with exceptions of superhuman beings or those whose growth gets arrested and deformed, our country has taken its own pace—or rather, like a malnourished child, has crawled to reach the level we are at now. Especially the generation born in the 60s and 70s, who have witnessed an era of scarcity, now enjoy the choice of abundance.

Like any ordinary citizen, we rely on various sources of information to form an impression about the election results. Those affiliated with opposition parties hope that the exit polls don’t turn out to be true, while supporters rejoice that the polls are in their favor, simultaneously keeping their fingers crossed that the exit polls are accurate.

I am not a psephologist or political consultant to predict the election results. What I am expressing, like my other articles, are my views. I am not a voracious reader who has consumed most of the articles related to elections or seen many debates, but I draw my conclusions from whatever little I have read through various newspapers and social media posts. At the same time, I am sure about my basic historical facts from school textbooks and some additional reading I did, which universally hold true, but I didn’t put any effort into deep diving to become a subject matter expert on any particular subject.

Approximately a year ago, the INDIA alliance was formed to counter the BJP. However, during several state elections, the alliance's activity was subdued. When a significant portion of the results did not favor the major alliance partner, Vibhishan switched allegiances and broke away from the coalition. Similarly, other regional powerhouses, such as the TMC in Bengal, the Left in Kerala, and the AAP in Punjab, were reluctant to concede their positions in their respective strongholds and did not join the INDIA alliance.

As a result, the momentum shifted to the NDA, making it appear as though a repeat of the 1984 election was imminent. The BJP seemed poised to secure a landslide majority and achieve their slogan, "Ab ki baar 400 paar."

Like a person with a fracture who continues with their daily activities, the INDIA alliance, as the true opposition party, continued to put up a spirited fight. They were equipped with a couple of issues: the election bonds controversy and, in the midst of the election phase, the sex scandal of Prajawal Revanna. The groundwork for this election had started long ago when Rahul Gandhi took the Bharat Jodo Yatra, followed by the Nyaya Yatra. Though the timing of this is questionable—the former might have been too early and the latter too late.

Before the election campaign reached its peak, the BJP’s pitch was how they were a catalyst for development. Let’s agree that no ruling party would get full marks for their work, but the BJP portrayed it as perfect to the extent that Kangana Ranaut claimed India got actual independence only after the BJP came to power. Once the Congress released its manifesto, the entire pitch changed from development to propaganda about how they would snatch reservations and give them to Muslims, distributing wealth which was pitched as snatching of mangalsutras (which was never part of the Congress manifesto), and so on. The last blunder was saying that Mahatma Gandhi was known only after his movie.

The opposition was equally aggressive. They talked about creating employment for all fresh graduates, implementing MANREGA, abolishing the CAA, and at the same time frightening citizens with the idea that the BJP would change the constitution if they came back to power. This time there was a paradigm shift in the BJP’s pitch from development to polarization, which is normally not done by the PM, but this time he was also involved. Instead of the opposition showcasing what they have for India’s development, they either restricted themselves to answering the BJP’s accusations or stuck to populist measures.

With no neutral opinion coming out of the media and those on social media giving their views in favor of one side, citizens are deprived of the ground realities. With the BJP hardly pitching the growth story and retaining the polarization strategy, and the opposition showing some resilience and instilling fear in the minds of the people, my reading is that the next government will have a big dependency on the coalition. Having said that, there are big chances that the BJP will form the government but will rely on coalition partners and won’t have the runaway success they had in the last two terms. A few days ago, I was reading an article in The Hindu, “India’s Middle Class and Modi Factor” by Gabriele Parussini (who was the India correspondent for The Wall Street Journal), showing how effective promotion can influence the middle class and help retain power. At the core, most of them are not fundamentalists, which supports my views on the election results. 

Let’s see if my gut feeling is right or if the exit poll is right. I firmly believe that whatever data agencies have should be represented and showcased to the citizens in the right way, without fear that they might be victims of vengeance. If this thought comes to the mind of our soldiers, our fate is unimaginable. Regardless of who comes to power, the need of the hour is constructive opposition, which was definitely missing in the last ten years.