Idea of India, bhavna of Bharat

There is one electoral record that Narendra Modi wants to equal in 2024; there is another he aspires to break. Both are currently held by the Nehru-Gandhis.

- R. PRASANNAN

The first is of Jawaharlal Nehru—to win three general elections in a row. Nehru led his Congress to victory in 1952, 1957 and 1962. Modi and his partymen, who won in 2014 and 2019, are pretty sure of equalling the feat in 2024. The BJP’s wins in the three assembly polls of the last one month have boosted their confidence.

The other record is held by Rajiv Gandhi; that looks harder to equal or to break. The Mr Clean of Indian politics won only one general election, but in that one he won 414 seats, the highest number ever won by any single party or alliance. Of course, as a commentator wrote a bit uncharitably at that time, Rajiv didn’t win the votes; his dead mother won them for him.