Understanding 2024 Parliamentary Poll: Three Critical Shots

[Sukla Sen]

I. Understanding the true nature of the contest: <https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7wG8ybMFxK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link>.

II. The vicious nature of the poll campaign by the ruling party with its Supremo himself at the very forefront: <https://www.instagram.com/reel/C714EAXPcb-/.

III. How the mainstream media, the electronic in particular, was very much a part of the Supremo's team: <https://www.instagram.com/reel/C729Ml-PHaA/>.

For an explanatory note: <https://youtu.be/lgFm-JCC6Nk>.

Additionally, a very informed comment by an outside observer:

<<Voters also appear to have wanted to personally rebuke the prime minister. At least 20 of his ministers lost their elections. Modi’s own victory in his parliamentary constituency was surprisingly narrow. His race ranked 116th out of the 240 BJP victories by margin, among the lowest ever for a sitting prime minister. The party even lost in Ayodhya, the town where Modi had built a massive new temple (on the site of a mosque that was torn down) and inaugurated it with great fanfare, months before the election.

The results are most remarkable considering the advantages Modi had. He is the incumbent prime minister. His party massively outspent the opposition, using an election-financing scheme so blatantly one-sided that even India’s often compliant courts eventually shut it down. The agency charged with promoting government policies spent millions on ads with Modi’s face on them, reminding Indians of “Modi’s guarantees” — that the economy would soar and that their lives would be improved. Many government benefits in India, from vaccine cards to bags of grains, come with Modi’s beaming smile, as though they were personal gifts from a generous benefactor.

In addition, opposition politicians were investigated by tax authorities, the leader of the opposition was unseated from his parliamentary seat, two chief ministers (the equivalent of U.S. governors) were jailed, and opposition party funds were frozen to make it virtually impossible for them to travel or operate.>>

(Ref.: <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/07/modi-election-rebuke-democracy/>.)