The largest democracy in the world has cast 62% vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The highest number of votes were cast in Tripura, the lowest in Bihar. If one goes by the number of campaigns these states saw, it can be assumed that political leaders failed to woo voters at least this time.
West Bengal, which faced criminal offenses during its assembly elections in 2021 has grabbed the second-highest number of votes which is 77.57% in the first phase. Notably, in the last general elections, in 2019, the average turnout in these 102 Lok Sabha constituencies was 70%.
The so-called biggest political party in the world keeps reciting about Modi ki guarantee as the biggest authentication on a stamp paper whereas the opposition which is united but divided did a couple of parades in the name of Bharat Jodo. Still, the figures in bits and pieces tell a different story. What could be the possible reasons?
Modi wave evapourated?
Remember the 2019 elections when all the BJP leaders added ‘Main bhi chowkidaar’ on their Twitter accounts? The same formula was applied five years later and the leaders of the saffron brigade have this time written ‘Modi ka pariwar’. Seems like the Indian voters aren’t very impressed by the repetitive formula. If this wasn’t enough, the manifesto of the BJP became Modi ki guarantee. Of course, it would be able to attract voters from the have-not community but what has Modi to offer to the middle class, the biggest chunk of voters?
Bharat Jodo Yatras reached no destination?
Rahul Gandhi started the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022 and kept failing to unify his own party leaders. Karnataka is the only state that Congress won after that Yatra. When the second phase of this yatra began in the form of ‘Nyay Yatra’, the oldest political party in India barely got anything. If one counts getting Telangana as a victory, one must go down memory lane to recall that the party lost the big states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Also, the kind of zeal and encouragement that the first Yatra got went missing in the following Yatra. The party couldn’t keep its spark even in Manipur, the cursed state of India that’s struggling to survive since last year and has hardly got anything other than a deaf ear.
IPL matches are digressing?
Before the announcement of the IPL schedule, speculations were doing rounds that the tournament this time might be affected by the general elections. Little would have anyone thought of the vice versa. But are the enthusiastic cricket lovers not peeping out of their homes to cast votes because of IPL matches? If one sees the schedule, except for the weekends, these matches are happening in the evening, after the voting time ends.
Heat wave affecting too much?
In a nation where weddings have shifted from Summers to Winters, elections should also go to some other months, maybe? Election Commission of India, are you reading this? Heat waves these years aren’t just those hot winds that nobody wants to face. With global warming turning into global boiling, they have become hazardous. In 2023, thousands lost their lives to heat waves. Who would want to step out in such circumstances?
Also, is the election commission making enough arrangements to make voting comfortable? If not, it would look like a punishment in hot summer to the common people who have already lost hope from all the political parties.
The TINA factor?
TINA – There is no alternative. Have people started thinking that the Modi government’s victory is so certain that their one vote can’t make a difference? Even if they don’t cast it, there’s barely any harm to the party they like. Ram Mandir’s consecration happened on January 22, did it establish BJP’s win so much that people are not bothered to go and cast their votes? And those who are not-so-happy with the government might have ended up giving up on the victory of saffronism. What is their one vote of opposition going to change?
No trust factor
Voters don’t want the Modi government but they don’t want the Congress govt either. Principles of RSS might not go well with them but they can’t align with a party that’s struggling in itself. The party that has formed an alliance, INDI alliance, only to see a tussle for seat-sharing and the leader who coined this name, herself not allowing anyone else in West Bengal.
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Is it a loss of hope that there’s no scope or their vote can’t change what’s happening to the so-called mother of democracy? Have they started feeling so reduced to go in favour or against Modi? The nation that boasts of having the largest demographic dividend isn’t voting in the Lok Sabha polls. The nation that has added 1.85 crore new voters to its list isn’t getting inked to exercise the universal adult franchise. Even if it’s in the support of any party, it still remains against the soul of democracy.
