The BJP has made considerable political investment in ensuring last-mile delivery and, more importantly, in ensuring the development narrative is propagated consistently through various platforms such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio telecast of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and a set of webinars conducted by the PM after the presentation of this year’s Budget.
The massive political dividend the BJP has reaped in the just concluded 2022 Assembly elections on the issue of governance is a result of this consistent effort. The Opposition, including the Samajwadi Party (SP), simply could not match up to the BJP's organisational machinery in challenging the party in Uttar Pradesh, is what political pundits are saying. But politics is never about hard numbers alone but about a certain chemistry that resonates with the electorate. Needless to add, PM Modi has a connection with the masses that is unmatched.
In Uttar Pradesh, 16 percent more women voters voted for BJP compared to 4 percent in terms of male voters, while in Uttarakhand,4.6 percent more women voters voted for the BJP. Clearly, the Modi tsunami, which shows no signs of abating, has been propelled in no small measure by the “silent” women voters. The Modi government puts its money where its mouth is. In Uttarakhand, for instance, eight women were elected to the Assembly this time, of which six are from the BJP.
Declaration of instant triple talaq as illegal and unconstitutional and thereby a punishable offence, corrected a historical wrong. In sharp contrast to the Rajiv Gandhi government that diluted the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement in the Shah Bano case by passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, the Modi government ensured an end to the inhuman practice without caring for its political cost. And this is just one of myriad moves this government has made to benefit women. From more women recruits in the NCC, decision to raise the marriageable age from 18 to 21 years, defining the nation's first menstrual hygiene protocol and providing sanitary pads at just one rupee through the Jan Aushadhi Kendras, to amending the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 that gives women reproductive rights over their bodies, the Modi government has given women empowerment a whole new meaning. And the Assembly election results validate this.
The BJP’s stellar performance in the 2022 Assembly elections, with the party retaining power in all four states where it contested as incumbent and improving its performance in Punjab, has been nothing short of magical. In Uttar Pradesh (UP), this is the first government to get re-elected in UP in 37 years. For the first time ever, a sitting CM who has served the full five-year term has got re-elected in UP.
Considerable increase in BJP’s vote share from 39.7 percent in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections to 42.8 percent in 2019, to 46 prcentfor BJP and allies in UP in 2022,vindicates the concept of double engine sarkar. Uttarakhand’s trend of changing the party in power every five years also ended in 2022, with then BJP becoming the first party in 21 years to be in power, for the second time in a row. For the first time ever in decades, Uttarakhand has re-elected a sitting state government. The BJP has retained its vote share in Uttarakhand, making the victory even sweeter. Sharp improvement in the BJP’s electoral performance in Goa to 20 seats despite being in power for the past 10 years, is another historic milestone. From the second largest party in 2017, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in this election in 2022 in Goa. Improvement in BJP’s vote share in Goa as compared from 32.5 percent in 2017 to 33.6 percent in 2022 is commendable.
The BJP bucked anti-incumbency in Manipur too. From being the second largest party in 2017, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Manipur, with a solid 32 seats and a 37.6 percent vote share in 2022 — up from a 36.3 percent vote share in 2017. No matter how one dissects the results of the 2022 Assembly elections, if there is one thing that has emerged loud and clear, it is the fact that PM Modi's aura has only grown exponentially in the last eight years of his leadership at the helm. The Modi juggernaut is unstoppable, the Congress stands decimated nationally, and both PM Modi and the BJP have zero competition.
In fact, the Modi magic has now turned into a Modi tsunami, thanks to the unflinching zeal with which the PM has ensured last mile delivery. For instance, in the last eight years, about Rs 20 lakh crore has been given via direct benefit transfer (DBT) to the poor and marginalised, with not a single penny pilfered by middle-men. In Uttar Pradesh, for example,15 crore people were getting free ration every month; during Covid-19, 42 lakh houses were built in UP under PM Awaas Yojana;1.5 crore women got free gas connections; over 1.4 crore households got free electricity; over 6.5 crore people benefited directly or indirectly from Ayushman Bharat; and almost one crore people in UP got benefits of pension schemes. The extent of penetration of PM Modi's welfare schemes has been mind-boggling. Even in a small state like Manipur, 60,000 houses were built under PM Awaas Yojana and over 4 lakh piped water connections were made available under PM Modi's “Har Ghar Jal” scheme. From a Rs 21,000 crore economy, Manipur became a Rs 35,000 crore economy. While Goa has an over 25 percent Christian population, Manipur has a Christian and tribal population in excess of 41 percent. The resounding victories in both these states showcase how PM Modi's ‘Vikaswaad’ has trounced the politics of religion, caste, creed and jaatiwaad.
Varanasi, the PM's constituency, is today on the bucket list of virtually every international tourist who comes to India. In 2014, when PM Modi was elected as the MP of Varanasi, he remarked, “There’s a lot of work that god has put me on this earth for. A lot of it is dirty work, but I’m up to the task.” Since then, from world class infrastructure to express trains, from underground cabling to waste treatment plants, from a cultural convention centre to modern traffic control, from a multimodal terminal to a container depot for perishables, Varanasi has witnessed a transformative revolution in the last seven years, with Kashi Vishwanath Dham showcasing Kashi's vibrancy.
The Modi juggernaut is more powerful than ever before because if there is one thing that has been solidly consistent between Modi's Gujarat model and the Varanasi model, it is Narendra Modi's tireless energy, his boundless passion, his unflappable zeal for hard work, but most of all what makes him unparalleled and in a league of his own is Modi's persistent policy of putting India and Indians first, over everything else. Making grand plans and then executing them with equal finesse are Modi's hallmark.
For example, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the Ring Road and Phase-1 was completed in November 2018 in record time, making traffic movement across Varanasi much easier and helping decongestion of roads. Varanasi has a very busy airport, naturally due to the movement of pilgrims and tourists in and out of the city. The over 17-km long airport road developed under the aegis of PM Modi, is called the Gateway of Varanasi today. The development of the first multimodal terminal on an inland waterway in Varanasi was a matter of pride for the city, with the PM receiving the first container vessel on the river Ganga in 2018. No wonder, for people of Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh, Modi is a messiah.
PM Modi laid the foundation of two dedicated cancer hospitals in Varanasi a few years back. Also, IMS BHU was accorded AIIMS-like status, which will further improve health facilities in the hospital. The development of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is a boon to lakhs of devotees of Shiva. Kashi, a thriving and busy city, generates a lot of waste and sewage. PM Modi inaugurated a large sewage infrastructure project. A 140 million litre per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant (STP) at Dinapur, set up in 2018, has made the city get rid of the large waste generated and would further curb river pollution. It is this eye for detail that sets Modi apart from his peers.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone of trade facilitation Center and Crafts Museum in 2017, for the benefit of many weavers, craftsmen and artisans of Varanasi and nearby areas. He had once remarked that India cannot become “Vishwa Guru” without the development of Kashi. Development of Kashi is, in turn, incomplete without bettering the lives of weavers.
Handicrafts of Kashi are spread in the form of cottage industries, Banarasi silk saree, textile industry, carpet industries being some of the prominent ones. More than lakhs of handloom weavers are directly or indirectly related with these industries. Measures taken for the betterment of weavers and artisans have gone a long way in enhancing their incomes. For the retention of the next generation of weavers, a carpet engineering programme is being run in IICT Bhadohi. About 75 percent of the fees of the students belonging to poor families of weavers is being taken care of by the Modi government. There is a provision for margin money of Rs 10,000 in MUDRA scheme for weavers. Mega carpet clusters in Mirzapur and Bhadohi are being given modern looms. Also, they are being imparted skills under skill development programmes. To realise this goal, a B.Tech programme in the carpet technology area is being run in IICT Bhadohi. India currently holds 35 percent share of the world's carpet market. PM Modi has set a target to own 50 percent of the world's carpet market.
In Uttarakhand, even though Pushkar Singh Dhami lost the polls, the BJP was effective in selling the development plank. The BJP leadership focused on development works including the Char Dham all-weather road, Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway project, AIIMS Rishikesh satellite centre at Udham Singh Nagar, Jagjivan Ram Government Medical College at Pithoragarh, largest optical telescope at Devasthal in Nainital and Jal Jeevan Mission for piped water supply to 8 lakh households. The Lakhwar multipurpose project which was conceived in 1976 is being revived, thanks to PM Modi’s political will power.
The manifesto, which focused on the core agenda of Hindutva, also promised Rs 3,000 monthly to the trained, unemployed youths, Rs 6000 pension, an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for those working in the unorganised sector, three free cooking gas cylinders to the poor and additional Rs 2000 under Kisan Samman Nidhi to farmers in Uttarakhand. The simple point is this — right from delivering development at the doorstep of the poor, to ensuring that the election manifesto of any given state is holistic, PM Modi's inimitable stamp of good governance is the crux of BJP's politics.
True, the BJP has a gargantuan electoral machinery, dedicated and selfless karyakartas, and organisational penetration at booth and panna pramukh levels That said, the buck always stops at the doorstep of the top leadership and Prime Minister Modi has never shied away from accountability and transparency — the two things that give him a cutting edge advantage over his peers who are fumbling and floundering. Clearly, PM Modi has wonderfully balanced the tightrope walk between being a welfarist and a reformist. He is both. And that is anything but easy. But then, if you are Narendra Modi, making the most difficult tasks look effortlessly easy, comes naturally.
Myles Munroe rightly said, “Great leaders do not desire to lead, but to serve.” It’s this relentless desire to serve the people that is precisely what makes Prime Minister Modi so popular, invincible and successful.
The author is an economist, national spokesperson of the BJP and the bestselling author of ‘The Modi Gambit’. Views expressed are personal.
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