We all have been surrounded by the din and clamour of Indian general election for quite some time now. Amid all the noise, allegations and counter allegations it is a colossal task to have a sane and unbiased view regarding merits and demerits of political options contesting this time. Here is my small contribution to accentuate the confusion :)
PART I
Gandhis and INC : We are witnessing the lowest approval rating of Congress and Rahul Gandhi in this election. Multiple scams (2G, CWG, Coalgate, Adarsh) have tarnished the reputation of the incumbent dispensation in public eyes. In addition to that, Congress brass clinching to Rahul Gandhi for providing leadership despite evidence of his lack of ability is conspicuous to the middle class voters. Young and aspirational voters loathe dynastic succession of leadership in Congress which according to them is an anachronism in today's time of merit. But I want to discuss few more causes responsible for the bad prospects of Congress in this election apart from these two widely held popular views.
In my view, Congress suffered mostly for the lack of connect and communication with the public. They could not outline the vision of their policies like FSA, UIDAI, DTB etc to the public at large. Secondly, because of the gaping loopholes in the implementation of the policies e.g. MNREGA, distribution of natural resources ex: coal, spectrum, natural gas, huge wealth was amassed by the rogue politicians and businessmen. Thirdly, indictment by institutional bodies like CAG and Supreme court for lack of transparency and accountability resulted in the active scrutiny by media and SC and ultimately led to policy paralysis. Fourth, large public demonstrations in the form of IAC and the poor handling of the situation by Congress which made the public disenchanted with the Govt. Fifth, lack of co-ordination in various areas for example among PMO and ministries resulting in the delay of huge infrastructure projects, among centre and states which stalled passage of crucial bills like GST and DTC, between Govt. and opposition in the parliament which adversely impacted legislative performance. Sixth, negative global economic condition compounded economic problems domestically for the Congress. Seventh, high Inflation increased the price of daily use items substantially and resentment against government intensified in the common public.
Beyond doubt, Congress is fighting its most difficult election and given their campaigning so far it is uninspiring to say the least. My fear is that the mandate for Congress might be so low that they even might end up being second fiddle in the opposition's role. This is almost predictable for lot of us so tomorrow I am going to discuss the prospect of BJP led NDA and their chances of forming a majority Govt.
