MUMBAI: The RSS mouthpiece- the weekly magazine Organizer has questioned the popular notion of just using the ‘Modi magic’ and Hindutva to win all elections.
This comes after the recent BJP’s defeat in the Karnataka elections and ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The RSS’s affiliate magazine further stated that the BJP needs strong regional leadership and effective delivery at the regional level on several fronts.
“Without strong leadership and effective delivery at the regional level, PM Modi’s charisma and Hindutva as ideological glue would not be sufficient,” the magazine stated.
“The Karnataka election results have come out in the favour of Congress but losing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be a daring proposition, it stated, adding that it was the right time for the BJP to take serious stock of the situation.
The organ also stated that corruption was the major issue in the elections and for the first time since Modi took the reins at the Centre, the BJP had to defend the corruption charges in an state assembly election.
“The ruling party tried its best to galvanise the voters with national-level programmes, while the Congress tried its best to keep it at the local level. The BJP failed to significantly add to the previous vote share in the high-turnout elections, resulting in poor seat conversion. Anti-incumbency against the sitting Ministers should be a concerning factor for the BJP,” it said.
The Organiser also noted that the Congress’ national leaders played a minimal role while the regional leaders took the front stage during the election campaign leading to a major victory in the Karnataka elections.
“The family-run party tried to present a unified face at the state level and garnered five per cent additional votes compared to the 2018 elections. Janata Dal (Secular) has lost its sheen and, therefore, the bargaining power after the results. Only time will tell how far Congress will be able to give a stable government and fulfil the tall promises made to the people,” says the editorial. Interestingly, the right wing mouthpiece also claimed that the caste-based mobilisation in the Karnataka election was done blatantly.
The “dangerous” trend, said the magazine, was the linguistic divide and successful use of the North vs South card which were used to garner votes during the Karnataka elections. “The linguistic and religious identities’ role in garnering votes was also open without considering the long-term repercussions. Regionalism and sub-regionalism have been a growing trend, and the Karnataka elections once again reminded of the dangers of linguistic reorganisation, Dr Ambedkar had warned about. The way some people played the North versus South card is another dangerous ploy,” it said.
The magazine also claimed that religion too played an important role in Congress’ victory in the Karnataka elections with Muslim leaders putting forth their demands to the Congress leadership against the consolidated votes and the Church brazenly coming out about their institutional role in the Congress’ victory.
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Vote Share Percentage, Politics, Propaganda or Mathematics: Karnataka 2023