LS POLLS

Analysis | Madhya Pradesh refuses to change narrative

Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made history in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday by winning all 29 Lok Sabha seats in the landlocked state.
The BJP had managed to win 28 out of 29 seats in the 2019 general elections. In those polls, Congress candidate Nakul Nath, son of party veteran Kamal Nath, won the Chhindwara seat, saving the party from complete rout in the state. Whether the dismal performance will mean the end of the road for some stalwarts, only time will tell.  

The loss in Chhindwara, where voters, barring once, never disappointed the Congress since 1980, tells a lot about the crumbling of the Congress fort. 
Nakul Nath, who won the seat easily in the 2019 election, was unable to retain the seat because of his inability to maintain a strong connection with the voters. Moreover, he was hardly active in the area like his father. 

The result is that the party lost all that was built by his father and committed party workers over the decades. Moreover, the crossing over of Deepak Saxena, a confidant of Kamal Nath and others to the BJP after the assembly elections saw erosion in Nath family's popularity among voters. It did not go down well with voters of the area who began to read many meanings behind the exercise. This time, they chose to vote for the BJP.   

In the case of Rajgarh, the BJP candidate Roadmal Nagar endeared himself to voters by maintaining his live contact in the constituency. He gained the confidence of voters by judicious use of funds, spending it on the construction of bus stops, culverts across the constituency, and helping farmers by making seeds and fertiliser available during the past five years.   Easy accessibility to him saw Nagar steadily gaining popularity among voters. Besides, the RSS influence in the area also contributed to his win by a margin of 1.40 lakh votes.     

Post-Mandal and post-Babri demolition, the saffron brigade is on the ascent in Madhya Pradesh, expanding its footprint in a big way. Even before its impressive wins in 2014 and 2019 general elections, it was a dominant political force in the state. The party owes its rise to the strong RSS network in the state. Even in its earlier avatar -- Bhartiya Jansangh -- it kept the party flag fluttering in Malwa region, comprising Indore, Ujjain and other districts. At that time the BJP was hardly a presence on the political landscape elsewhere in the country. 

Another crucial factor is all the BJP biggies -- Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Jyotiraditya  Scindia and BJP state president V D Sharma -- have won with over 2 lakh to 6 lakh votes. From among senior leaders, the Congress fielded Digvijay Singh from Rajgarh, and Kantilal Bhuria from Ratlam, both biting the dust in the saffron onslaught. Jyotiraditya Scindia is contesting from Guna and former Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste from his home turf of Mandla.

Reacting to the huge win, BJP state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said, "BJP has made history by winning all seats from the state. We expect a jump of around 7% in our vote percentage." In the previous election, the BJP voting percentage stood at 58%. 
Overall voting in the state was 66.9% for the 4-phase polling on April 19, April 26, May 7 and May 13. 

An old timer associated with the Congress for more than 40 years said, "One has to watch politics and diabetes continuously. One has to handle both in a disciplined manner. As for politics, it has turned into a struggle for existence. A high level of dedication and a high level of motivation are of utmost importance. Ignoring these costs dearly and impact party prospects."  

So what explains this kind of performance in the case of Congress especially when INDIA bloc, to a great extent, has succeeded in slowing the march of the BJP juggernaut in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra? 

Obviously, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh could not reset the narrative, resulting in BJP stealing a march over it. Perhaps, the message from the party in the state was not strong enough to drive home the implications of issues like rising unemployment, wealth inequality and farm distress.  
Observers attribute it to a lack of organisational heft, the dwindling number of foot soldiers, lack of resources to beat the hyperactive BJP election machinery in the battle of perception.