More than halfway through India’s marathon general election, something has changed in the air. Before the polls, a massive BJP victory and third term for Narendra Modi were almost a given, at least if you read the commentary in the mainstream press and social media.
Suddenly, the buzz is that things are not looking like a cakewalk for the saffron party. The betting market is now not so sure of an emphatic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win, the stock markets have been shaky for the same reason. But is this election really turning away from the ruling BJP?
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/shifting-winds-bjp-faces-uncertain-path-to-victory-in-2024-elections-1.102661858
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #India #politics
Suddenly, the buzz is that things are not looking like a cakewalk for the saffron party. The betting market is now not so sure of an emphatic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win, the stock markets have been shaky for the same reason. But is this election really turning away from the ruling BJP?
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/shifting-winds-bjp-faces-uncertain-path-to-victory-in-2024-elections-1.102661858
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #India #politics
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00More than halfway through India's general election, which is seven phases long, the
00:08big question everyone is asking is, has the tide turned against the BJP?
00:13Well, that's a difficult question to answer.
00:16And I do think that journalists should avoid becoming pundits and trying to look at a crystal
00:20ball and gaze into the future.
00:22The fact is that going into this election, the BJP was the clear frontrunner and there
00:27was very little doubt in the minds of most analysts and commentators that they would
00:31come back with a good majority.
00:33However, something seems to have shifted in the last few weeks, at least as far as the
00:37narrative is concerned.
00:39And the reason for that is the BJP's own behaviour and the way that it has conducted its own
00:44campaign, which has led many to believe that while they are still the frontrunners in this
00:49election, they may not come back with the numbers that they themselves had projected
00:54for a third term for Mr Modi.
00:57If you look, for example, at the way this campaign has gone, the first is that this
01:01is not a big wave election like the one in 2014 or in 2019.
01:06There's no one big overarching issue or message from the prime minister and from the BJP,
01:11which is being told to voters.
01:13So in that sense, it's a waveless election.
01:16The voter turnout has also been kind of okay.
01:19I mean, it's less than 2019, though not dramatically less than 2019 is the latest
01:25numbers show.
01:26But that again indicates a certain voter fatigue, perhaps with this campaign.
01:32Is that something that could work against the BJP?
01:34Well, we'll have to wait and see why this is happening.
01:37And there are other things such as the BJP being on the defensive all the time, responding
01:42to the Congress, responding to the attacks from the opposition, whether it's on changing
01:46the constitution and on other issues as well.
01:50So it gives a sense that the BJP camp is not entirely as confident as it was, say,
01:56even six weeks ago.
01:58That doesn't mean that the BJP is losing.
02:00Like I said, they are probably still the front runner in this race.
02:04The question now is, what will their numbers be and will they actually come down significantly?