Wave Less Elections In 2024?

Every election will have a history and emotion. There will be a political sensation behind every election. But it appears that the 2024 elections have no such specialty. The Lok Sabha elections will be held in a phased manner and the election episode will last for one and a half months. While the first phase was concluded, the second phase will be held on the 26th of this month.

The campaign activities are going on at a rapid pace. But many say that there is no big political buzz this time. The sensation around the elections would be top-notch every time. Since the past half a century, one political issue has played a big role. In the 1971 elections, Indira Gandhi’s new leadership and India’s win over Pakistan in the war played a key role.

With this, Congress recorded a landslide victory in the elections and Indira Gandhi emerged as a big leader. She was dubbed as the Iron Lady. Everyone knows about the 1977 elections as the polls happened against the Emergency. As protecting democracy was the slogan in the elections, the Congress tasted its first defeat in elections. With the opposition parties coming together, the Janata government was formed.

In the 1980 elections, Indira Gandhi guided the Congress party to another landslide victory. The slogan of having a steady government resulted in a big win for Congress. Indira Gandhi’s brutal murder in 1984 was a sensation in the country and the Congress party won 404 seats, the highest in history.

If we look at the 1989 elections, the opposition parties came under one roof named National Front and accused the Rajiv Gandhi government of many scams including the Bofors scam. With this, Rajiv Gandhi became the former PM. There was a positive wave for the Congress in 1991 due to the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. In the 1966 elections, the opposition parties sought a single chance and the United Front came to power.

The voters gave another chance to the UPA government in the 2009 elections. The Congress was successful in getting the mandate from the people that it could run the coalition government. In the 2014 elections, Narendra Modi shined in national politics for the first time in the name of the Gujarat model. He banked heavily on the corruption of the UPA government for ten years. With this, the BJP came to power at the Centre with absolute majority for the first time.

The BJP was successful in making an emotional appeal to the voters saying that it saved the country with the Pulwama attack on Pakistan. It appears that there is no such slogan this time. BJP’s claims of winning 400 seats should be seen as a Political slogan and not an emotional one is what the observers say. There is also an opinion that the slogan might misfire.