When the Common Man…

Having had the luxury to see the most fiercely fought election in hindsight, I am trying to put all the pieces of this brainteaser together as to how Congress came to power! Obviously the Young and Scholarly image of Congress along with Stalwarts having years & years of Governance experience helped Congress get near the Magic figure. But what actually fetched the magic figure for Congress was the foolishness of its opponents and some so called allies.

To start with the problem as many see it, is that the BJP campaign took off in Bangalore & was going steady till it crash landed in Philibith. Many states voted for development, and BJP ought to realize that Hindutva as a product has crossed its expiry date. Their Election campaign either lured the poor with unrealistic Carrots or impaired the image of statesmen like Manmohan Singh. The Grand old party was not left as well, with remarks like Gudiya and budhiya coming from Narendra Modi, that were handled with utmost stature by Priyanka Gandhi.

Modi, the star campaigner who left no stone un turned to pompous about his work (which has been proved to be more of a marketing gimmick than substantial development by many including in this piece by Dipankar Gupta’s Gujarat: What Miracle?) also rallied on Hindutva more than anything else, ensuing every campaign of his in Favor of Congress ultimately. Not to mention the 15-11 victory (with a loss of 1% vote share since 2004) in Gujarat, which questions his standing in the state!

Also fed up with BJPs communal ways and particularly Kandhmal, Naveen Patnaik was forced to move out of NDA and reach out to voters with a more secular-developmental agenda along with NCP & Left. Nitish Kumar with the same intention took a different approach by not allowing Modi to campaign in Bihar and the results there speaks for themselves; not undermining Nitish’s work to ensure that Bihar stands on its feet after the calamity it went through, which also helped him ouster Lalu of his ‘once upon a time’ bastion!

YSR & Gehlot are some of the silent performers; as compared to the other CMs their less flamboyant ways makes them the underdogs but deliver where it is required the most. Along with Maharashtra, where congress not only benefited from the rivalry of Thackeray cousins, but also delivered with silent but sustained development along with pro poor & middle class policies to ensure these 3 states give Congress the much needed lead required.

The existence of 3rd & 4th front also came in the rescue for Congress in Kerala, Bengal in a BIG way along with Mahrashtra, UP & Bihar in its own ways. These states delivered for congress bcoz of 4 reasons

• 1st being, Left’s disrespect towards congress’s progressive agenda led to their own debacle.
• Secondly, after a hard fought battle between Congress & BJP in 3 rounds of election, India could not afford to support 3rd front and push herself to a virtual dead lock, so 4th & 5th phase of elections saw materialization of substantial lead in favor of UPA which seemed to be the obvious choice.
• 3rd being Buddhadeb’s inaction in key issues.
• 4th, Left’s lack of support and conspiracy against its own Performing CM, Achutanadan.
• 5th, NCP’s PM stint & pro 3rd front attitude for its selfish reasons was chastised with just 8 electoral victories.
• & last but not the least Lalu’s & Paswan’s arrogance causing them an upset in Bihar.

In all the above scenarios Congress benefited either Tangible through Electoral seats or Intangible through Weakening regional parties.

How can BJP even claim the reversal of India shining to India fearing, when development indicators such as IIP, GDP, Stock market all making obvious of progression in India during congress’s regime and above all the initiatives of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Farmer’s Loan waivers, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Bharat Nirman and many more which were not just Media campaigns but a success at the Grass root level. These found a connect with the Aam Aadmi only bcoz of its relevance and genuineness. On the other hand Bhay Ho of BJP campaigners only strengthens my belief that they are fit to be in Theatre & dramas instead of contending to run our nation. The Nautanki they put up whether on Dias while making speeches or The Tamasha of creating a revulsion atmosphere in India with their campaign is rejected by the Nation which choose Good governance over Hatred.

Finally I cannot help but mention the enigma of Sonia, Manmohan & Rahul in the cover page of Congress manifesto / Cut outs / Ads must have swayed at least more than few crores to Congress. As the last election saw the emergence of Sonia Gandhi as the perfect manager, while Manmohan Singh took care that his Government delivers, Ms Gandhi ensured that the politics never interfered with the PMO; Similarly 2009 will be seen as the year when Rahul dented formidable forces by nurturing young talent, Fighting against odds in opponent bastions without alliances & above all working the true Gandhian way ofToiling at the Grass root & winning the masses…