Strategic Genius and Tactical Blunders in Lok Sabha elections 2014 : an impartial viewpoint Till 2009 Lok Sabha elections, BJP used to rake up Hindutva related issues in emphatic manner. These were : Ram Janmabhoomi, Uniform Civil Code, Article 370, Cow-slaughter, etc. To the modern, moderate, educated and neutral sections in population , these issues appeared unattractive and unnecessary. BJP thus failed to impress them as a party with modern thinking and developmental agenda. These voters didnt support BJP then. For 2014 elections , despite a prolonged campaign launched by BJP in September 2013 itself, they arent even mentioning these issues ( barring casual references in manifesto ). They are agitating the issues of corruption, price rise, unemployment, development, governance, etc. They are also vigorously trying to attract minorities support . I dont think they have jettisoned core Hindutva, and keenness with which these issues will be taken up may depend on seats BJP might win on its own. This , for me is strategic genius. The opponents of BJP, and of NaMo in particular, have on the other hand , focused on 2002 riots in Gujarat in particular, and on secularism in particular. The same modern, moderate, educated and neutral sections in population find it an irrelevant issue for 2014 for many reasons : Gujarat has been peaceful since 2002 ; riots elsewhere and at other times havent received the same kind of criticism ; 2002 riots are seen by many as emotional outburst against Godhra . Large numbers in population perceive the opponents of BJP and of NaMo to be merely trying to garner minority votes. This may have caused reverse polarisation : with even modern, moderate, educated and neutral sections in population now supporting BJP because they find others desperate attempts to gain minority votes, to be distasteful. This could turn out to be serious tactical blunder by opponents of NaMo / BJP.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:38:27 +0000
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