The model code of conduct is imposed again as campaigning for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections has come to an end. Over the past two months, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition INDIA bloc have traded verbal punches about the Hindu-Muslim divide, Ram Mandir, dynasty rule, OBC certificates and the influence of business tycoons. The opposition bloc has also targeted the BJP over issues like inflation, unemployment, farmers’ protests and electoral bonds.
The Congress also exuded confidence saying the INDI alliance is all set to get a "clear and decisive" mandate on June 4 and will form the government. Here’s a deeper look into how the opposition bloc has fared in the Lok Sabha campaigns this time.
Key issues raised
INDIA bloc’s campaigning in the last two months has been mainly focused on opposing the rising communal divide they allege the saffron party has been creating and targeting the BJP for not adhering to the problems of common people. The Congress, which is leading the alliance, made a slew of promises in its manifesto or ‘Nyay Patra’ that drew heavily from party senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The 25 guarantees include up to three million government jobs, Rs 1 lakh to the woman head in every poor household, nationwide caste census and removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, bringing back Old Pension Scheme (OPS), repealing the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), among others. How many of these will it be able to fulfil is the question which cannot be answered yet.
Cutting remarks
The INDIA bloc rallies have largely been spearheaded by Congress at the national level, especially by three top leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Hitting the campaign trail in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi had targetted Modi over electoral bonds. He said, “PM Modi’s hands were shaking when he justified electoral bonds, it is the world’s biggest scam.” In other campaigns, he has said that these elections were being fought to save and protect the Constitution, which was under threat from the ruling party. "BJP wants to tear this book, but we in Congress and the people of India will not allow it," he said pointing to the Constitution in his hand at a rally in Odisha.
While the former party president promised a nationwide caste census at his rallies, current Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge guaranteed free ration every month to poor households. At a rally in Jharkhand, Kharge also compared BJP to the Britishers and said, “Like the British, the Modi government looted 'Jal, Jungle, Jameen' (water, forest and land) of the country in 10 years. PM Modi handed over the country's assets to his billionaire friends."
The INDIA bloc’s momentum had faced a setback with two key faces – Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren – behind put behind bars ahead of polls. However, the campaign got a fresh lease of life when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister got bail. Many analysts believe that the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress joint campaign ahead of polls in Delhi was a big boost for the Opposition which was until then failing to make much of an impact to combat the BJP.
Religion takes centre-stage
Although the Opposition has accused the BJP of using religion for divisive politics, it is not that religion did not find mention in their own campaigns. When Kejriwal got out of jail, he addressed a crowd invoking Lord Hanuman, saying, "I had promised you I will return. By the grace of Lord Hanuman, I have returned." The AAP chief then kicked off his poll campaign in Delhi with a visit to the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place before addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, addressing a rally in Rae Bareli took a jibe at BJP for claiming to be a "champion of Hindu religion". "They accuse us of being against the Hindu religion. We follow Mahatma Gandhi's ideal who had chanted 'Hey Ram' before dying," she said, in what appeared as a veiled pitch to the Hindu majority.
"They accuse us of being against religion for turning down invitations for the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. Just look at the condition of the cowsheds in UP where a video showed dogs eating flesh of a dead cow," she added.
Social media campaign
This time, apart from a few big rallies, the election fervour was largely missing from the streets. With millennials and GenZ joining the voter lists, war rooms of political parties sharpened their digital outreach as parties spent huge amounts of money, manpower and time to disseminate their message to where the masses go these days – social media.
According to the CSDS-Lokniti survey, while BJP’s posts focused more on local issues (53 per cent) than on national issues (48 per cent), posts of Congress – the largest opposition party – were highly focused on national issues (86 per cent) rather than local issues (14 per cent).
Posts of opposition parties have also been focused on pinning attacks at the ruling party and at PM Modi. Among opposition parties, the maximum engagement on social media was achieved by the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress (TMC), along with their top leaders. Influencers were roped in for interviews and informal discussions.
Congress, for its part, focused on posting videos of Rahul Gandhi with the main message being his ability to reach people's hearts. Other postings discussed the guarantees made by the INDIA bloc. The AAP emphasised saving democracy and ending corruption. Many AAP leaders and volunteers changed their profile picture on X, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms with a picture showing Kejriwal behind bars, captioned "Modi Ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal". Meanwhile, TMC’s social media campaign was all about local issues and raising the chorus for Mamata Banerjee.
However, in the age of artificial intelligence, the rise of social media campaigning also led to a rise of deepfakes and doctored videos. Over the past few weeks, many such incidents have come to light where political parties and top leaders have been engulfed in such viral content. Recently, a doctored video of Amit Shah stirred a war of words with the BJP accusing “INDI alliance parties” of being behind it. The Congress refuted this claim.
