BJP swept Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and more surprisingly, Chhattisgarh, where the party trailed initially. The victory proved or more precisely contradicted three theories:
(1) Anti incumbency strongly influenced election outcomes – MP results contradicted this.
(2) Good governance could negate anti incumbency to a large extent. Chhattisgarh results contradicted this. Baghel government seemed to be providing good governance.
(3) Exit polls are largely correct Almost all exit polls predicted tight finish in Rajasthan and MP and Congress victory in Chhattisgarh. All proved wrong.
What are the learning for political parties:
(1) INDIA bloc needs to review its approach. They should join hands on ideology and common minimum programme rather than be a crowd just to oppose BJP.
(2) BJP seems to have won the support of women- can the party also earn at least some backing from minorities, more especially Muslims?
(3) Can South open itself up by trying something new, the way North has done?
(4) Lastly, but above all, no party should take our voters for granted. Let all parties have a growth and welfare oriented agendas rather than trying to woo with issues such as Mandal and Kamandal! Voters have grown much maturer and intelligent and can see through the political agenda that’s divisive and discriminatory.
Long live the vibrancy of Indian democracy!
Arvind Arya blog 