How Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati's mistakes helped Modi win UP polls
ELECTION NEWS - There is more to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mind-boggling sweep in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections than can be explained by factors like his persona, Modi’s aggressive, high profile campaign in the state, the caste configuration of the state or for that matter, the communal turn of his campaign. Perhaps, the win is also a consequence of the sustained attacks that the Akhilesh Yadav-Rahul Gandhi duo and BSP supremo Mayawati launched against some of Modi’s policies.
Gandhi’s outburst against the army’s surgical strikes on terror camps along the Line of Control – which he termed as “khoon ki dalaali” – went against the nationalist sentiments of even those who do not subscribe to the saffron ideology. In one stroke, Gandhi lost much of the steam he’d generated through his aggressive efforts to rejuvenate the Congress in UP. However, it was Gandhi, Yadav and Mayawati’s tirade against demonetisation that served as an even bigger boon for Modi. Without making any effort to see the ground reality, these leaders went on a Modi bashing spree – that evidently proved counter-productive and paid Modi dividends that surprised him as much as those who voted for him. What Modi’s opposers failed to notice was the divide that demonetisation forged between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. The ‘have-nots’ chanted Modi’s name, while the affluent cursed him for making them stand in long queues at banks and ATMs. The poor hailed him in the belief – right or wrong – that he’d taken the black money bull by its horns. The reasons were not difficult to find. Not only were their currency requirements relatively meagre but they also belonged to a class that’s used to standing in queues. Be it the queue to fetch water, the ones outside ration shops or hospitals, or for that matter the lines at bus stops – the have-nots were quite used to the ordeals that seemed new to India’s middle class and elite. (READ MORE)
ARTICLE SOURCE – BUSINESS STANDARD