I got the shock of my life on 16th may 2009, when the results of the General Elections 2009 were declared. All the TV news channels & other media were predicting the outcome to be a hung parliament once again making way for a coalition government. But, when the results were out, the Congress & allies got an almost clear majority with 262 seats ,only 10 short of the magic figure of 272.
The most surprising thing was the results of NDA & BJP in total, which got almost 60 seats lesser than what had been estimated,with BJP got reduced to 120 seats,16 seats lesser than their last feat. Post this, a blame game has started in the party itself to find out the real reason behind such a sad debacle.I think the BJP lost out on many fronts, & not just one.
Reason 1: Fighting the elections with a Leader who doesn't share a good rapport with the masses, & the most recent spat being the jinnah controversy. He is perceived to be hardliner ( which is not at all bad though) & has been often termed as the Second Iron Man of India after Sardar Patel. BJP failed to sense the nerve of Indian Voter. INDIA is not USA where elections are fought on the credentials of the leaders. I read somewhere, that Mr. Vajpayee was against this type of campaign with only Mr. ADVANI to the fore in all the communications.
Reason 2: The superbly designed campaign which included many ad-agencies could not connect with the masses. The common man did not get the head & tail of the manifesto or the benefits that the new govt of NDA would bring to them. I don't know who coined the slogan ," MAJBOOT NETA, NIRNAYAK SARKAR". This was also very vague & actually had no connection with the reality. Even if, one took the pains to actually go & see the Election Manifesto, it focussed only on IT which is fine but is incomprehensible for a common man & its direct impact to his life.
A POORLY DESIGNED MARKETING STRATEGY WHICH WAS NOT BASED ON HARD CORE FACTS & RESEARCH OF THE INDIAN VOTER, but was pushed down the throat of people.
Reason 3: Sledging done by Mr. Advani for Mr. PM ( Manmohan Singh) by calling him an ineffective PM over & again. MS enjoys such an impeccable rapport & clean image with the Indians which is very difficult to tarnish, & thus resulted in exactly the opposite. BJP thought him to be a soft target & bullied him again & again which didn't go well with the masses.
Reason 4: The party was not clear about the future leadership which was an altogether irrelevant question to ask at that crucial hour when elections were in their full swing. This might have confused the voter, as Narendra Modi , an excellent administrator & successful CM doesn't enjoy the support of NDA constitutents only. Party leaders such as Arun Shourie, Arun Jaitley, & many others who fanned the fire by supporting such a succession plan in the media. Partymen should have kept some restraint on themselves while commenting in the media.
Reason 5: SUPPORT OF MEDIA OR THE LACK OF IT
The Indian media ( print & electronic both) seemed to be biased towards UPA yet again & meted out a step motherly treatment to the NDA & its constituents. any fallacy of NDA was highlighted to the max whereas Gandhi Family( NEHRU Dynasty) was portrayed as the torch bearers & future of the nation. On National TV, the analysis & the signal behind PRIYANKA VADRA wearing a Jeans Top while voting were discussed. Each & every speech & road show of youger gandhi was followed & viewers were updated on the same.
The moment UPA won handsomely, Rahul Gandhi was made a hero in a matter of few minutes, with complete ads being aired apart from the coverage by the media. The height of it happened when The PM also hailed him & gave him the credit of the congress's win.
The media has always been doing that & BJP has always been the victim, the journalists always grill the BJP leaders but congress leaders are not exposed to such situations.
Reason 6: VARUN GANDHI Controversy
BJP was right in supporting Varun Gandhi over the doctored CDs which were circulated, but the party failed to visualise the impact of such comments on the youth of the nation who are not that orthodox & believe in the equal treatment of all.
Reason 7: BJP forgot its own main Issues & has lost faith of its traditional voter. The issues like common civil code, article 370 & SriRam Mandir were forgotten again. This has been done in order to keep its allies together, who are none but the opportunistic people like TMC, BJD & JDU. Nitish Kumar was so critical of Modi that he declared publicly that he will allow Modi to enter into Bihar, just to appease the Muslim Voters.
BJP has always been termed communal, though it is the most secular party of the country. BJP failed because it had many internal fights to settle before,during & after the election.
BJP failed because it could not gauge the true issues that would make a voter vote for them. I had a word with a person who used to be a supporter of BJP but voted for Cong this time.WHY??? He considered the work done by the local state govt. & national issues took a back seat in his mind. moreover, the excessive use of technology ( SMSs) also irritated the voters. With regards to the corruption issues, people feel that most of the politicians are corrupt ,so it hardly makes any difference to them.
BJP also failed because it couldn't understand that 65% of indian population is young, & the congress hit the right chord( though most of its young faces don't even have any exposure to the grassroot level people) through its Youth Campaign.
TO SUM IT UP, BJP LOST THE ELECTIONS PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF POOR STRATEGY & POORER EXECUTION OF THE SAME.
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