India 2014 Elections Essay

Congress had an emphatic victory in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. UPA-2 started on a high by winning almost full majority on its own. However, their second term has been marred with controversies and corruption allegations. Starting with Commonwealth Games scam, every few months saw a new scam coming out like Adarsh Society scam and the biggest of all, the 2G scam. Fuel and commodity prices have risen sharply in the past few years adding to the woes of common man. Crusade against black money and corruption by Anna Hazare and to some extent baba Ramdev has only added to the woes of Congress. But Congress is shrewd and knows politics quite well. They know that offense is the best way to defend. For every scam or corruption news that comes out, they bounce back with equally controversial news against rival parties. Their projection of Rahul Gandhi, who has not yet proved any political sense, as a Prime Ministerial candidate may help them in their campaign build up to 2014 polls. [pic][pic]M ain opposition party Bhartiya Janata Party was left down and out after the 2009 polls. BJP’s arch enemy is not Congress but BJP itself. It’s leaders have failed to capitalize on core issues of price rise and corruption against the Congress. They should have learned from how Congress and some smaller parties have been able to successfully use the anti-minority tag against the BJP for over two decades now. BJP has also lost a lot of mass appeal leaders over the years. Most popular elader in india Atal Behari Vajpayee has now retired from active politics. Charasmatic leader and face of modern India, Pramod Mahajan was killed in a tragic incident. Stalwarts like Govindacharya and Jaswant Singh were thrown out. Prime Ministerial candidate Murli Manohar Joshi has been made to sit on the sidelines with no influence on national level politics. L K Advani is close to retirement years and firebrand Sushma Swaraj hasn’t proved to be a winner yet. That leaves the party with only one leader of mass appeal, Narendra Modi, who may not yet be ready to leave Gujara t and join National level politics. Besides, everyone knows Congress will play the anti-minority tag aginst him quite well. BJP has also destroyed its chances by not forming strategic alliances with other parties in states. It used to ahve an allaince with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC in West Bengal and BJD in Orissa, but they have all left BJP group now. BJP’s loss has been Congress’s gain. Third Front parties have been reduced to play a minority role at the center over the past few years. Leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalitha, Mayawati are no longer king makers. Most of them have been left with no option then to support the ruling Govt, in this case the Congress. Left Front has already become non-existent after the debacle in 2011 Assembly elections and it’d be highly unlikely that they’d make any comeback by 2014. FOr the past few years, most third Front allies have been hob-nobbing with the Congress, which raises doubts on their very existence. Third Front was formed to combat BJP as well as Congress, but if you are going to chose Congress after the polls every time, then won’t it better for people to vote for Congress directly? Third Front needs to get its priorities right and decide on thei future survival options, because as of now their future looks bleak. The Contenders for India Elections 2014: Though Congress may not admit it yet, but Manmohan Singh may be shown the door out, and Congress may prefer to field Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate in 2014. it may be too ealryfor Rahul to lead the nation as he has not proven his political accumen yet, but after the negative reviews UPA-2 is gathering, Congress amy want to chnage Manmohan Singh. As for BJP, the choice may be between one last try for L K Advani and popular leader Narendra Modi.