Four Reasons Modi's BJP Swept India's Key Regional Elections

 

Image Source: Al-Jazeera

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has registered landslide victories in three key states just months before the general elections in India

India's right-wing ruling party commonly known as BJP has won sweeping regional elections, taking control of key states for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is bidding for a third term in national elections in May. In elections that concluded on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested the states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the opposition Indian National Congress Party and won a record fifth term in central Madhya Pradesh.

The defeat of the secular Congress party in three states – which sent 62 members to the national parliament – ​​is a bellwether for its hopes of returning to power at the national level. Experts say the grand old party that led India's freedom struggle against British colonial power needs to realign its strategy as Modi successfully pushes Hindu nationalism to the center of Indian politics.

The Congress party, however, managed to win in South Telangana state, the IT hub of Hyderabad, highlighting the North-South divide. The party also rules the state of Karnataka - home to the city of Bengaluru, known as India's Silicon Valley. The BJP still has a limited electoral presence in the relatively more prosperous southern states of the country.

Here are four reasons for BJP's victory in recent state level elections:

1. Welfare Schemes and their Promotion

The BJP, which in its early years was seen as a pro-business and pro-citizen party, has successfully expanded its base. He has launched several welfare schemes to burnish his pro-poor credentials.

Many schemes such as cash transfers, free rations and cheap gas cylinders launched by the Modi-led central government have been popular with voters amid unemployment, an ailing agricultural sector and rising inequality.

During his campaign, Modi boasted of his government's efforts to help the poor. The government claims that more than 800 million people receive free rations, slowing economic growth in the world's most populous country.

The BJP surged onto the national political scene in the early 1990s on the back of a movement to build a temple to Lord Ram on the site of the medieval Babri Masjid, which was demolished in 1992 by Hindu groups allied with the party. was given In 2019, the Supreme Court allowed the construction of a temple in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

In the state of Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP won by a landslide, despite high rates of crime against women, a cash transfer scheme targeting women has drawn women voters to the party.

Observers have also attributed the Congress defeat to its own complacency and failure to connect with voters despite running similar welfare schemes at the state level.

2. The 'Modi Magic' and Hindu First Politics

Modi's personal appeal — "Modi magic" in the words of the local media — towers over the BJP. The 73-year-old leader is hugely popular with 93 million followers on X, and has used his foreign policy successes to his advantage.

Under Modi, New Delhi's relations with the US and other Western countries have improved significantly, amid the West's policy to counter China's rise. At the same time, India has positioned itself as a leader in the Global South.

The Indian prime minister is also promoting India as a manufacturing hub amid Western pressure to find alternative supply chains.

The BJP also used the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January 2024 to its advantage. Modi launched its construction in 2020, stoking Hindu nationalist sentiment in the country.

"Results in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan indicate that the people of India are firmly in favor of good governance and the politics of development," Modi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The opposition has accused Modi of indulging in anti-Muslim dog whistles and granting immunity to far-right Hindu groups involved in attacks on Muslims and other minorities. India - an officially secular country - has seen an increase in anti-Muslim violence since Modi came to power in 2014. Dozens of Muslims have been killed simply on suspicion of eating beef or carrying cows, which are considered sacred by a large section of Hindus.

Modi and the BJP have rejected the allegations, saying they do not discriminate between Indians on the basis of caste and creed.

3. Election Funding and Campaign Scale

The BJP has been able to cast a wide net for campaign advertising due to its high electoral funding.

Pro-democracy activists, however, have criticized a legal mechanism for political funding, known as electoral bonds, which allows parties to keep the names of their donors hidden from the public.

Half of all political funding between 2017-2022 was obtained through electoral bonds. The BJP has received more than 57 percent of its funding through electoral bonds – much of its source obscure.

The Congress party, which managed to get only 10 percent of the total political funding, has also questioned the fairness of the electoral bond system, with the BJP receiving three times more electoral bond funds than all other political parties. have been.

The Hindu nationalist party has invested heavily in Sunday's vote to put its leader in the spotlight. Modi addressed 14 rallies and held two road shows in Rajasthan, and also addressed five rallies in Chhattisgarh.

BJP is relatively more tech savvy and early adopter of social media than other parties. This has helped the party build a significant following online. But the party has also been accused of using its large war chest to indulge in negative propaganda, particularly targeting Muslims.

4. Lack of Opposition Unity

The Congress party's loss is also being attributed to factionalism and failure to forge alliances with like-minded secular parties. The Congress leadership has also been accused of being arrogant and out of touch with the ground reality.

Experts say that if the Congress party wants to reverse its electoral fortunes, it needs to revamp its leadership, bring in young faces. Over the past 10 years, the party has been pushed to the margins of Indian politics by the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are the most recognizable faces of the party. The current party president, Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit, has worked in the shadow of the Gandhi family – three of whose members have been prime ministers.

(Source: Al-Jazeera)