Election in India 2019

Indian voters elected a new lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) in the 2019 general elections,
the largest democratic exercise in the world. Nearly 900 million people were eligible to cast their
vote. Elections were spread out over seven phases scheduled over six weeks between 11 April
and 19 May. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared a
resounding victory, expanding the party’s seats in the parliament and further solidifying Modi’s
rule.

Reasons which contributed to keep PM Modi’s popularity among the voters

Toilet and LPG

Soon after taking oath in 2014, PM Modi spoke about sanitation being his government’s priority.
He stated that the lack of cleanliness is the biggest cause of diseases and the biggest threat to
health. He, it seems, succeeded in conveying his message that cleanliness is akin to saving
money. He launched a campaign for a toilet in each household and promoted it as a way to keep
the environment clean and diseases away. The Modi government claims to have built more than
9 crore toilets for the poor of the country.
Another scheme that got BJP connected to the voters is the LPG scheme. PM Modi launched
Ujjawala scheme providing free LPG connection to the families having no access to cooking gas.
The Modi government claimed to have distributed more than 7 crores LPG connections to the
poor households and publicised it as a step towards empowerment of women.

Hindutva

Rise of Hindutva contributed to BJP’s victory in 2014 but many political pundits believed it to be
a one-time-phenomenon connected to the image of Narendra Modi. However, the party’s
victories in states like Tripura, Assam, Maharashtra, Haryana and other places indicated a far
bigger constituency of the right-wing voters than estimated earlier.
The BJP has made "appeasement of Muslims by the Congress" one of its poll planks since it was
founded in 1980. The controversies relating to cow vigilantism, beef row, Durga Puja-Muharram
row in Bengal and similar issues helped the rise of Hindutva despite PM Modi criticising those
assaulting persons from the minority community, particularly Muslims.

More than 45,000 shakhas (branches) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) too furthered
the rise of a new wave of right-wing supporters.

Brand Modi

Since the beginning of the election campaign, the BJP raised Modi versus who question to the
Congress and elusive third front. The Congress or other Opposition parties failed to project a
leader as their prime ministerial candidate.
On the other hand, the BJP remodelled Brand Modi from a development-oriented leader from
Gujarat to a leader of international stature. The BJP leaders repeated stated that India’s
international standing has risen since PM Modi took over in 2014.
PM Modi himself, while commenting on the economy, said India was a member of fragile five
before his government took over while under his leadership, the country has reached to new
heights in all spheres of governance and diplomacy. The Opposition’s criticism failed to discredit
PM Modi in the wake of the claims made by the government.

Moreover, PM Modi led all the surveys primarily based on TINA there is no alternative factor.
The Opposition failed to set a counter-narrative and was often seen doing politics on the agenda
dictated by the BJP in the last five years and also during the campaign for the Lok Sabha
election.

Air Strike on Terror Camp

Till the afternoon of February 14 this year, the Rafale deal, 45-year-high unemployment rate and
farm distress were the talking points that appeared to build election narrative. The Opposition led
by Congress president Rahul Gandhi looked set to pose a tough challenge to PM Modi’s strategy
in the Lok Sabha election. Around 3.15 on that afternoon, Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-
Mohammad targeted a convoy of the CRPF killing 40 jawans on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.
The terror group owned the responsibility and preliminary investigation indicated cross-border
links to the killing of soldiers on duty. Twelve days later, the Indian Air Force carried out an air
strike deep across the Line of Control in Pakistan’s Balakot. The IAF’s target was a terror
training centre of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. An aerial dogfight followed the next day, that is,
February 27 when Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a Pakistan Air Force’s
F-16 fighter jet. His aircraft was also shot down and he exited on the land controlled by Pakistan
Army. Backchannel diplomacy by Modi government ensured that Pakistani Prime Minister
Imran Khan announced in the country’s parliament the decision to return IAF pilot Abhinandan
as goodwill gesture.

The Modi government claimed it as a victory of its strong muscular policy towards
Pakistan. PM Modi referred to the entire episode in his election rallies and exhorted the
young voters to vote for the security of the country. The Opposition’s attempt to question
the government over Balakot air strike worked in favour of the Modi government, which
built on its nationalistic narrative and connected it with the pride of the Indian nation.
Booth level workers

Once the BJP shifted the narrative of the Lok Sabha election, the BJP’s organisational strength
came to work. The BJP leadership has invested a lot in building human resources in the past five
years.

Its membership campaign, despite courting controversies, provided it with a strong base of a
large number of committed workers across the country. The party has won more elections than
any of its rivals since 2014 primarily on the back of its committed cadres. In this election, every
appeal by PM Modi to the votes in his public speeches were widely circulated and made viral by
the BJP cadres.
The BJP formed small teams of four to five workers in areas covered by every single booth in all
the Lok Sabha constituencies. This last mile connectivity of the BJP was a big advantage for the
Modi government in the Lok Sabha election.