Are Modi and ECI responsible for decline in voters’ turnout?

The role of the Election Commission of India is also very important. It has contributed to the decline in polling percentage. It failed to dispel doubts about the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). The Supreme Court decisively ruled in favor of elections through the EVM, however, the ECI had the responsibility of restoring people’s faith in the instrument

The continuously declining poll percentage in the 2024 general elections shows that this should be one of the most unresponsive elections on the part of voters. Attempts by star campaigners from different political parties have failed to enthuse the public. Efforts by the Election Commission of India also did not have the desired effect. The kinds of facilities provided at the polling stations are fantastic. The ECI has equipped polling stations with facilities such as toilets, drinking water, and ramps for people with disabilities. It has also provided facilities for the elders and others to be carried to the polling stations. The ECI has also vigorously campaigned. The political parties are also making appeals to the people to come and vote. Why have all these efforts failed to make an impact on the people? The people are not ready to take these appeals seriously. Should pollsters not try to find the growing people’s indifference towards elections? However, we can get some clues into people’s minds from social media posts and reactions on camera. They are not enough. We need to go deeper into it.

Currently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the prime mover in Indian politics. So, he should share major blame for the declining people’s interest in the polling process. His mega-rallys and roadshows could not enthuse people. He almost changed the way the campaigning has been done for all these years. His rallies and roadshows have been different from previous days. Bunches of his followers rhythmically chant his surname, and people throw flowers at him in his roadshow. It is all to his credit that the poll campaigning has acquired an entirely new color in his regime. This is more personalized, more colorful, and more dramatic than ever. However, it failed to attract people to the polling stations.

The contributions of Prime Minister Modi and the Election Commission of India to the fall in the poll percentage are very big. Modi has always been in election mode. He turned every single event into a campaign. Most of his public address has been directed towards mobilizing people for his electoral goals. It has obliterated the line between politics and governance. His flagging of trains and election rallies are no different. People know what he is going to say. He would inaugurate a health project and speak of Article 370, and he would talk of the Sri Ram Temple at Ayodhya while inaugurating an infrastructure project. Did his repetitive stances, unrelated to the occasion, bore the people? Is there fatigue among the people? Are other factors also responsible for people’s alienation?

Alienation of common people from the electoral process has certainly to do with Modi’s style of engaging people. His dialogues reflect his hatred for opposition parties. He is the one who has changed the form of public discourse. Most of his attacks on the opposition look inspired by vengeance, not ideological differences. In the current elections, we have seen how he is not responding to the challenges thrown by the Congress and the INDIA alliance. He is not responding to questions on unemployment or price rises. Instead, he has chosen to malign Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Tejaswi, Akhilesh, Kharge, and others. Does it affect people positively? Does his ‘Shahjada’ jibe for Rahul Gandhi attract people?

There is a distinct self-obsession in his public appearance. He poses before the camera in a style that is unique to him. His photoshoots have been the talk of social media, and they are entertaining, not inspiring. However, his campaign managers forget that people in India do not accept artificial expressions. His arranged photoshoots hardly impress people. His style is making an impact only on a new class of people who are greatly influenced by the present consumerist culture. That impact has also started waning. Has the waning image of Modi done something with the decline in polling percentage in the first three phases of the 2024 elections?

The role of the Election Commission of India is also very important. It has contributed to the decline in polling percentage. It failed to dispel doubts about the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). The Supreme Court decisively ruled in favor of elections through the EVM, however, the ECI had the responsibility of restoring people’s faith in the instrument. The ECI did not take itv in its striede . t It targeted opposition parties. The ECI failed to provide a level playing field. And, it has also to do with the alienation of voters. Top leaders of the ruling BJP are violating the Model Code of Conduct by invoking religion from the dais. Prime Minister Modi unhesitatingly refers to the name of a particular community in his speeches. The BJP leaders claim that they have built the Sri Ram Temple in Ayodhya and that they are the ones who could save the majority community. They are openly spreading hatred against minorities. The ECI is silent over these violations and ignoring petitions against them. People have complained about security personnel discouraging minorities at the polling stations, and the ECI does not act on these complaints.

Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah even held a roadshow just outside the polling booth in Ahmedabad, and the ECI remained inert. How could a crowd be allowed to gather?

The ECI has allowed the BJP to reduce the 2024 elections to a slugfest. In Surat and Indore, the ruling party manipulated Congress and other candidates to withdraw their candidacies. The BJP candidate was elected without contest. In Indore, few independents are in the fray, and the attempt to get a BJP candidate elected without contest has failed.

How does an election with no sanctity whatsoever attract voters?

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)