When the hand plucked the lotus

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The people of India have spoken, the elections are over and the fifteenth Lok Sabha is in place. Though much was spoken and written about a hung parliament, the mandate for the Congress-led UPA is as clear as a whistle. Many questions need to be addressed, why did the Congress do this well? And what led to the debacle of the BJP?

For a political reporter much of what has happened in the elections wasn't surprising. The BJP never learnt from the outcome of the Delhi and Rajasthan election results and carried on with a campaign which was focused against the Congress than for the BJP. Negativity writ large in the saffron brigades posters, advertisements and speeches. For every issue the BJP lashed out at the prime minister and tried to project L K Advani as a viable alternative. The theme of the BJP's campaign was 'Mazboot Neta, Nirnayak Sarkar', but in the end the neta was neither mazboot and nor was there any sarkar. All in all the people of India found the soft spoken Manmohan Singh more acceptable vis-à-vis a thundering L K Advani. If there was one area where Advani outgunned his opponents it was in his gusto, clearly he gave many youngsters a run for their money. However, the energy lacked focus and the party which had the advantage of anti-incumbency fared even worse than in 2004.

The assembly results of Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh along with the results of the Lok Sabha elections have made two powerful points. The first, that if a party and its leadership have worked for their state and constituencies, the people will vote for them, irrespective of their party. Secondly, negative and personalized campaign will not help beyond a point. It's the second point the BJP needs to learn from, the party refused to change its tactics and strategy even after the drubbing it received in the states of Delhi and Rajasthan which went to polls soon after the Mumbai attacks.

And if all this wasn't enough, there was another factor which ensured that the party's electoral prospects were razed to the ground. It's what I call as the 'enemy-within', the self destruct switch which the saffron leadership has failed in tripping. In the run up to the parliament elections party General Secretary Arun Jaitley launched an all out assault against a much junior Sudhanshu Mittal, who had been give the post of co-convener of the party's affairs in the North-East. This issue could have been sorted out politely but as is mostly the case in the battle for supremacy within the second rung leadership, it led to was an all out war between Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh.

That the two don't see eye to eye was showcased at the worse possible time. The matter peaked when Arun Jaitley refused to come for the crucial Parliamentary party meet. Insiders say it damaged the party's image. Then there was the clamoring for Narendra Modi as prime minister material well after Advani's name had been declared, this sent out a terrible signal to the people of a party failing in projecting a united front.

And how can we forget Varun Gandhi and his hate speech. The BJP initially distanced itself from the utterances but eventually sided by Varun sensing a strong Hindutva polarization. There was a feeling that this will catapult the party's prospects in Uttar Pradesh, however as the results indicate that more than anything else Varun's speech alienated the little Muslim support the BJP enjoyed and consolidated them behind the Congress.

In contrast the Congress was positive in its campaign, Rahul Gandhi's focus on rural India which was ridiculed by the opposition turned out to be a smash hit, the congress also went all out to showcase it populist schemes like the NREGA and Bharat Nirman. The mantra, don't just do things , talk about them as well. It was this strategy combined with the BJP's inability to get its act together when it mattered the most which tilted the scales in favour of the Congress. These elections also marked the resurgence of the grand old party in the biggest electoral state of Uttar Pradesh, this was critical for Rahul Gandhi who in one blow has silenced voices of apprehension about his style of functioning.

The Congress also scored over the BJP when it came to alliances, the tie-up with Trinamool Congress yielded dividends, so did the alliance with the National Conference in J&K. In contrast the BJP led NDA was obliterated in Haryana, the Assom Gana Parishad too failed to make any significant inroads into the Congress vote bank in Assam and its oldest and most powerful alliance with the Shiv Sena too suffered minor reverses in the state of Maharashtra.

As the 15th Lok Sabha is formed there are lots of expectations from the Congress led UPA, as the main opposition party the BJP too has a crucial duty to discharge, that of keeping the government on its toes. At a time when the BJP has gained notoriety for stepping on its own toes, this will be a great challenge for the saffron brigade to meet.