Is Modi’s frequent talk of poll victory unsettling the opposition? Looks so

But as in cricket, the election game is not over till the last vote is counted. If one fights till the end, there may be a chance of converting a losing game into a victorious one. The Opposition should go for a course correction and should talk more of the country’s development if it wants to turn tables on BJP

No sane person goes into a war thinking that he or she will lose it. That is the cardinal rule because there is no point in going to the battlefield if an imminent defeat stares at the individual. But there are certain occasions when an army will have no option but join the war even though defeat is the writing on the wall. Even on such occasions, the commander should motivate his soldiers to the extent that they will eventually win the war. If the leader fails to do that, no soldier will dare to join the war. Worse, there will be a danger of such soldiers fleeing from the battlefield.

We are in the midst of the General Elections 2024 at the end of which India will have a new government at the Centre by the first week of June.

The fight for power is primarily between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). While the former is eyeing a third successive term, a record of sorts in the last five decades, the Congress, the country’s grand old party, is desperate for a comeback. While a third consecutive win will further strengthen the BJP’s consolidation, a third straight loss will push Congress into further chaos and erode its base. That’s perhaps is the reason why it has opted to join the I.N.D.I.A block, a loosely-stitched coalition to unseat BJP and its leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power. But I.N.D.I.A block’s victory clearly hinges on the electoral performance of Congress, which remains the most formidable opposition party, which has been there and done that on umpteen earlier occasions.

Modi recently said that the workload on bureaucrats would increase after the formation of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government post the General Elections. He made this comment in the country’s financial capital Mumbai while speaking at the opening ceremony of the celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This is not the first time that he has made such a lofty comment. He has been doing it for several weeks now. That shows how overly confident Modi currently is about his victory in the ongoing polls. Some pre-poll surveys have predicted a win for the ruling dispensation.

Further, BJP has changed the goalpost also. The saffron party, which won 303 Lok Sabha MP seats in 2019, wants to increase its tally to 370 this time around. For NDA, the target has been set at 400 seats, which was 353 in 2019. That’s the reason why BJP welcomed regional parties like Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh back into its fold. Winning a third consecutive term at the Centre itself is a difficult task as no one except Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has achieved that milestone. Now, Modi wants to achieve it and at the same time, increase his party’s tally! That’s a tall order indeed. Is a weak opposition his strength?

The Congress party recently released its manifesto which primarily focuses on welfare. As it did during the Assembly polls in Karnataka and Telangana where it won, it has offered sops to women, youth and farmers in its national manifesto. But Lok Sabha polls are a different ball game, altogether. Will the same strategy that has worked in Assembly polls help it in the General Elections? It may not.

Further, the Congress manifesto lacks the aspirational quotient. Going by the manifesto, it seems like the party still thinks India is a poor country and everyone needs some financial support or the other. But the fact of the matter is that the middle class in the country is, in economic parlance, growing by the day. This class is aspirational and wants to see India at a financially-better position on the global landscape. Similar is the case with the younger generation. It seems Congress is yet to take note of this. That’s why it is yet to build an effective narrative against the BJP. Needless to say, even the smaller opposition parties are sailing in the same boat.

Is PM Modi’s frequent talk of BJP's victory being a foregone conclusion and his confident demeanor unsettling the opposition? It looks like so.

But as in cricket, the election game is not clinched till the last vote is counted. If one fights till the end, there may be a chance of converting a losing game into a victorious one. The opposition should go for a course correction and talk more about the country’s development if it wants to turn tables on BJP. Only this positive approach can boost the morale of the soldiers and of the people.

Otherwise, it will have to patiently wait till the Indian electorate gets vexed with Modi and looks for an alternative. There is no other way around.

During his address at RBI, Modi also underlined the need for making rupee more acceptable across the world. That means that he wants to make the rupee a global currency. The US dollar is the unchallenged global currency now. The European Union tried to challenge the dominance of the US dollar through Euro, but that did not happen. There is an acute need for a global currency that can rival the US dollar. But for the Indian rupee to reach such a level, it will take decades of concerted efforts.

However, there’s nothing wrong in making the first step in that direction which will obviously strengthen the Indian currency in the long run. Let’s hope that happens irrespective of whoever comes to power at the Centre this time.