Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers launched a fresh offensive against the Congress and the proposed Opposition “Mahagathbandhan” on Saturday, as dates were announced for five state polls whose results are expected to lay the template for the 2019 general election.
Addressing a public rally in Rajasthan’s Ajmer, Modi termed the Congress a party devoted to serving “one family” and urged the voters of Rajasthan not to give it a chance to rule again.
The attack on the Congress, the principal challenger in Rajasthan, and the appeal to voters was seen as an effort to counter anti-incumbency against the Vasundhara Raje Scindia government in the state.
In Delhi, finance minister Arun Jaitley called the “grand alliance” an “anarchic combination” and predicted a bleak future for the country if it were to come to power.
“Grand alliances in India are tried, tested and failed ideas. It’s an experiment where policy gets killed and the longevity of the government is of a few months,” Jaitley said, speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
Jaitley said the 2019 election would present a choice before the people between a stable government and an anarchic combination and expressed confidence that Modi would return to power.
“So if you get together this kind of a crowd, then 2019 will be a choice between a stable government with a coherent policy and a strong leader versus a completely anarchic combination,” Jaitley said. “And I think aspirational societies never commit suicides. So I am very clear what will happen in 2019,” he added.
Five states go to the polls in November-December, but of these the results of three will be keenly watched. The outcome in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will provide the template for the general election next year. The politics in all these three states is bipolar, with the Congress as the principal challenger.
The BJP fears that if the Congress manages to snatch two of the three states, it could have a huge impact on the Lok Sabha polls since it will remove the perception of invincibility around the party.
Internally, the BJP leadership feels only a miracle can save them in Rajasthan but is hopeful of pulling through a victory in the other two states. But a section in the party fears that even Madhya Pradesh is a close call. The BJP has been in power for three terms and upper castes are protesting against the party over the SC/ST Atrocities Act.
Modi is scheduled to campaign extensively in the three states, particularly Rajasthan, in the hope of exploiting his personal popularity to counter anti-incumbency against the state governments.
The Prime Minister tried to do that in his Rajasthan rally on Saturday, seeking to convey the message that he was there to ensure things move properly in the state.
“Our (BJP’s) intentions are good. Nobody can doubt it. We work hard for the people and for us they are our family,” Modi said.
He accused the Congress of practising vote bank politics and dividing society, and appealed to the voters not to give it another chance. “The Congress has established this (vote bank politics) tradition in the past 60 years…. The country has picked the right direction now after 60 years. Don’t give them another chance again,” Modi said.