The national elections are fast approaching. There’s a buzz and excitement around this year’s elections, with India on the cusp of a new era of economic might, military confidence, and cultural pride. The elections are also expected to reiterate India-Bharat’s faith in the policies and performance of the BJP government (Bharatiya Janata Party) in both domestic and international affairs as well as the acknowledged leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This year’s elections may be the BJP’s best chance in decades, to capture both the imagination and the votes of the South Indian people in the upcoming national elections. State elections are a different challenge altogether with unique circumstances in each of the Southern states but National elections present a fair chance for the BJP to appeal to the South Indian people on the subjects of national security, good governance, economic growth, international reputation, cultural unity and religious pride.
There is a high likelihood that Karnataka, which already has a significant BJP presence, will vote in favour of the BJP in sizeable numbers in the 2024 National /Lok Sabha elections. In Telangana, where the BJP has gone from single-digit to double-digit wins in under five years, the BJP hopes to further increase its vote share, banking on the almost 20% vote share it captured in the 2019 national elections.
In Tamil Nadu, Mr. Annamalai’s rising popularity, PM Modi’s inauguration of the Ram Temple, Mr. Modi’s frequent visits to TN, the success of his Kashi-Tamil Sangamam conclaves, Modi’s recent pilgrimage visits to TN before the Ayodhya temple inauguration and his sincere efforts to strike the right chord with the Tamil people combined with the DMK’s image as a minority-appeasement party with an anti-Hindu streak, is helping the BJP make major inroads in the state. In Kerala, the BJP with the assistance of a strong RSS presence in certain districts, combined with the public’s dissatisfaction with the current LDF (Left Front political parties) government, accused of both corruption and a pro-Muslim stance, hopes to increase its numbers substantially.
Ironically, the BJP ‘s strength in numbers is almost guaranteed in Andhra Pradesh – a state in which it has the least presence on its own strength! The party is yet to find sincere, ideologically strong leaders in the state, that will help it get past the single-digit phase in the state. Yet AP is the BJP’s best bet in the South because all the regional parties in the state have guaranteed their support for the BJP, either with an internal, pre-electoral alliance or with unconditional, external, post-electoral support for all of the BJP’s bills at the central level.
A majority of the nation’s citizens, including those from the South are impressed with the electoral promises delivered on time by the BJP government at the centre, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the significant reduction in terrorist activities, the crackdown on anti-national organizations and the inauguration of the long-awaited Lord Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
As of Friday, 8 March 2024, confirmed news from Delhi came about that the BJP and Andhra’s TDP are in “serious” talks about a seat-sharing arrangement, confirming a long-awaited alliance. The leaders of Andhra’s political partners (Telugu Desam Party-TDP and the Jana Sena Party-JSP), N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan respectively, met with both Amit Shah as well as JP Nadda of the BJP. Such a meeting is indicative of:
- Naidu’s TDP party’s rising numbers against the incumbent Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP
- The BJP’s acknowledgment of pre-electoral predictions in Andhra
- The BJP’s comfort level with a likely partnership with the TDP as well as the JSP, both parties in united opposition to the current YSRCP government
- Reddy’s poor performance in the 2019-24 term leading to large-scale defections from his party and the people’s disapproval of his policies, leading to dismal pre-poll ratings for his YSRCP
- The central government’s understanding of the AP public’s discomfort and distrust of Reddy’s poor administration, higher-than-average levels of corruption, and his Law and Order record, making the public seriously concerned with the consequences of mafia-style rowdy elements in society
- The BJP’s admission of the information shared by top Election Commission officials on the large-scale voter-id tampering by Jagan Reddy’s party, which in the past five years, appears to have impacted all parties in the state including the BJP
Shivani is a freelance writer based out of Vijayawada.
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