How BJP's Magic Potion Conquers Minds

The secret behind BJP’s success lies in Modi’s reliability and Shah’s detailed planning. The party’s ability to address issues via organised schemes draws in voters

- A SURYA PRAKASH

THE results of the recent elections of five state assemblies show that in a diverse and vibrant democracy like India, politicians and election managers need to be continuously educated, lest they misread the results in one round and flounder in the next.

Buoyed by its success in Karnataka, where it offered five guarantees, the Congress thought it had the magic formula to destroy its political opponent-the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of fered six guarantees in Telengana, seven in Rajasthan and an unspecified number of guarantees in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

But the formulae fell flat in the three Hindi-speaking states. Ultimately, what triumphed was Narendra Modi's guarantee and Amit Shah's warranty! It is difficult to discern the logic of the doles dished out by the Congress in each state. Why did the guarantees and the list of goodies vary from state to state? While the BJP went back to the drawing board after the Karnataka debacle, the Congress misinterpreted the verdict.

In these elections, the BJP remained committed to deploying its trump cardNarendra Modi-and offering his national guarantees, even though it did not wholly shun the temptation to offer local inducements. After the shock treatment it got at the hands of the voters of Karnataka, it realised local aspirations must be met without losing sight of the nation's economic well-being and the party's national goals.