Who will be India's next Prime Minister? Cheat sheet on Election Results 2019
Who will be India's next Prime Minister? Lok Sabha elections 2019 were held on 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and a party or alliance would need 272 seats to form a government.
Who will be India's next Prime Minister? Cheat sheet on Election Results 2019: Counting for Lok Sabha election 2019 results has begun and Bharatiya Janata Party is leading. Narendra Modi-led BJP government, which became the first party in three decades to gain majority is confident of its second term while Congress is re-energised after its Assembly election performance in three major states-Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Exit polls have already predicted BJP's victory with a comfortable majority, however, the opposition believes that the exit polls often go wrong. Lok Sabha elections 2019 were held on 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and a party or alliance would need 272 seats to form a government. As you stay glued to your TV screens and phones for live election updates, here are ten points which will impact the results.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure was primarily focussed on high-profile campaigns such as Swachh Bharat, Make In India, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao besides nationalism and national security. However, PM Modi led BJP government continuously received flak from the opposition for rising unemployment, derailing economy, agrarian crisis, hate crimes and most importantly politicising national security and armed forces.
- BJP's fierce electoral campaign majorly revolved around nationalism and national security. Only later, development issues came into the narrative. Meanwhile, Congress campaigned around jobs, economy, farmers and infamous 36 Rafale jet fighters deal by the government.
- Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 and subsequent Balakot air strikes changed the course of the campaign and brought nationalism to the forefront, especially for BJP, so much so that IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was downed and captured by Pakistan, was seen on a BJP hoarding in a rally in Barmer.
- In the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, BJP President Amit Shah brought allies such as Shiv Sena, Janata Dal United and Apna Dal on board. Meanwhile, opposition lacked unity due to several reasons. Congress failed at forging state-level alliances with Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP and Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.
- Even in Uttar Pradesh which has 80 constituencies, BSP remained adamant at maintaining a distance from Congress. Experts believe that this move played in favour of BJP. As per sources, Mayawati expressed her desire to be Prime Minister to a leader down south.
- West Bengal is another important state for BJP and as per initial trends, the party will possibly make major inroads into the TMC-ruled state. BJP campaigned aggressively in West Bengal and several clashes were reported across the state even a couple of days before the last phase of polling. BJP is targeting 23 of 42 seats.
- Election Commission continuously faced the wrath of the opposition over its failure to take action against various leaders-including the Prime Minister and the BJP chief Amit Shah- for violating model code of conduct. Only after the apex court intervened and asked for prompt action, EC came into action. However, its way of handling complaints against PM Modi triggered protests from the opposition.
- Reportedly, all the decisions regarding clean chits to PM Modi and Amit Shah were made in a 2:1 majority by the three election commissioners. EC said that the dissenting views cannot be made public. Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, who dissented, stopped attending meetings as minority decisions were not being recorded in the orders.
- There was also a hue and cry by the opposition over VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail). The opposition demanded to tally VVPAT slips with EVM, which EC turned down stating it unfeasible as this could extend the counting process to over six days. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that five random VVPAT from different booths in an assembly segment will be verified.
- Last but not the least, Congress, who has been under the radar for not having a leadership, inducted its trump card Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into active politics at the last moment. She campaigned for the party in eastern Uttar Pradesh which comprises important constituencies such as Varanasi and Gorakhpur.