Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, May 17: The scientifically devised campaign strategy by the Modi-led BJP that exclusively sold the failures of UPA II, enabled the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to be remembered as 'historic' in the district of intellectuals. BJP's Nalin Kumar Kateel has succeeded in registering a thumping victory, garnering the highest ever margin of 1,43,907 votes, compared to any other past Parliamentary election.
Incidentally, the previous record in terms of margin of victory also involved Congress leader Janardhan Poojary, though unlike now, he was not on the receiving end then. In 1980, Poojary had won by a record margin of 1,28,897 votes. The victory margin in the current elections has set a new record toppling the one set by Poojary.
Another high winning margin of 1,21,230 dates back to 1971, with K K Shetty of Indian National Congress achieving this in the LS elections.
Winning candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel (6,42,739 votes) of the BJP said that the materialization of many developmental projects in his tenure along with the anti-incumbency wave at the national level were the key reasons for his stupendous victory. It seems that he has deliberately pushed the Modi wave to the third place in the list of factors that brought about his victory. There could be many aspects to his changed stance, as, during the elections he was seen vociferously campaigning for Narendra Modi.
However, the scenario in the district has revealed that the strong Modi wave has virtually obliterated the identities of many the candidates in the fray. Whether one likes it or not, the decisive statements delivered by Narendra Modi in his rally at Mangalore played a pivotal role in the victory of Kateel. The man appearing to be a magician holding the wand of developmental agenda, needless to say, decided the fates of many candidates across the nation.
The BJP, which wrested power in DK from the Congress after 1991, continued its saga of victory even in 2014, but in a more stylish manner. The huge distinction between two rallies of key political parties in the district in terms of crowds and adulation, in fact translated as votes driving the Congress to a humiliating defeat. While only Mangalore Assembly constituency (Ullal) gave a lead to the Congress candidate, other seven assembly constituencies backed Kateel steering him to triumph.
"With no second thought, I admit that the Modi wave was a prime factor for the BJP to mark a historic victory in the district," said Janardhan Poojary, LS candidate of Congress, who managed to secure 4,99,030 votes in this election. Accepting the humiliating defeat, Poojary claimed that the new voters in the district were highly influenced by the much-touted Gujarat model of development. “The appeasement of the Modi-led BJP forced the voters to deliver their mandate for the party,” he said.
Congratulating his opponent, he said, “I will accept the verdict of the people with humility. There are other factors behind my defeat about which it will not be appropriate to comment at this time.”
P N Udaya Chandra, registrar of SDM College, Ujire, a Left leaning ideologist says, "The BJP, that was backed by the corporate sector, systematically planned the campaign. As many as 3,000 high stunt rallies organized by Modi have been funded by the elite corporates, stunning the locals and the educated class."
He said that those were the corporates who were swayed by the BJP in this election because the policies of the Congress party during the tenure of UPA II proved costly for many of them. “In fact, the Congress-led UPA only shielded Reliance and ignored others. Miffed by the government's poor policies, most of the corporates joined hands to make the BJP victorious. BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi drew the campaign strategy meticulously. With finesse, he marketed the fiasco of the ruling party in almost all of his much-funded rallies. The failure of the UPA II provided the BJP-led NDA a clear mandate. The district also reflected the same result,” he elaborated.
It could be observed that the electorate in the district, at least to a certain extent, dumped the caste criteria this time, which in earlier elections had been seen as a common practice among the electorate. “Ab ki baar Modi Sarkar”, the powerful slogan of the BJP, decimated the Congress that was marred by scams across the nation and in the district.
The numbers in the district proved that the traditional style of choosing a candidate on the basis of his/her caste disappeared. Had all the Billavas turned out in great numbers to vote for the Congress candidate Janardhana Poojary, he would have secured victory at least by a small margin. This altered mindset of the people due to the developmental agenda of Modi came as a positive factor for the democracy.
The candidate of the fledgling party AAP, M R Vasudeva (5,442 votes), said the preparedness of Modi won him a good number of votes in the elections. “We are a small party with very few members. The overpowering campaign led the people to sideline the new party. The mandate of the people has to be respected,” he said.
He expressed that AAP, in the coming years, would grow bigger and the party would toil hard to achieve a good number of votes in the next LS elections.