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| BJP must end hate campaign | | | | As country prepares for next round of general elections set to be held in April-May coming year, the message from five states which went to polls recently is worth taking note of. Assembly elections in five states –Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram –have been seen a semifinals for the forthcoming elections for Lok Sabha and eventual formation of new government at the Center. This perception is based on the premise that the party which wins these elections will trigger a wave in its favour and set a trend for success in Lok Sabha elections. The contest was between BJP and the Congress. While BJP contested elections on its trademark fascist and communal agenda, the Congress came with a development plan. Barring Mizoram, the BJP campaign in all poll bound states begin with the controversial issue of Amarnath land transfer and then revolved around arrest of a sadhvi, a soldier and seer for their involvement in Malegaon blasts. While the investigations into this sensational and first of its kind case were just in their middle, the BJP launched a campaign against the government for framing Hindus into terrorism. The Congress led UPA Government exhibited quite an amount of maturity in reacting to BJP allegations as it did not allow itself to be drawn into such a communal agenda. The next major trump card of the BJP was scourge of terrorism on which it held the Congress squarely responsible. The party leaders went on malign all Muslims as a part of larger terror plan and accused the Congress of being soft in its approach to handle the challenge. Taking note of a nationwide rage against terrorism, the BJP was probably hoping to cash on this campaign and hold sway on votes. It did not happen at the end of the day. Eventually it was the slogan of development and public welfare which worked. Results from five states have been quite interesting. Despite a soul stirring campaign launched by the BJP in Delhi, the Congress won the state with a sweeping majority. As Congress gets mandate for third time in row in Delhi, the anti-incumbency factor too did not work. The message was clear that people voted for development and rejected the hate campaign. Going down to Madhya Pradesh, it was the good work on ground done by the local BJP government which saw it winning. Communal campaign was at its high in Madhya Pradesh but development program scored a point. In Rajasthan it was apparently a vote against the lackadaisical performance of the Vasundhra Raje Government while in Chhatisgarh the Raman Singh government could retain the seat even as Congress scored quite well. A look at the election results reveals that the communal and hate campaign failed to work and people went for development and welfare programs. Ahead of the impending Lok Sabha elections it is a lesson for parties like BJP to put an end to their hate campaign and come to the people with developmental policies. |
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