View | Congress manifesto vs BJP’s wealth redistribution narrative — is it something out of nothing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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It is common during elections for political parties to speak extensively about their party manifestoes, though these are most often forgotten after the polling is over. However, the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections are unique in a way as they are being fought about a manifesto — that of the Congress party.

The ruling BJP, which was heavily favoured to return to power even a few weeks ago, has now gone on the war path against the Congress manifesto. Perhaps, the party has slightly changed its strategy, especially after the first and second phases of elections, where the voter turnout was lower than expected.  

Leading the charge has been Prime Minister Modi. With an assortment of assumptions, and what the Opposition calls as “outright falsehoods”, he has accused the Congress of wanting to redistribute the nation’s wealth to the Muslims of the country.  For evidence, the PM points to a 2006 speech of the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh where he had spoken of OBC’s, SC/ST and minorities including Muslims having first right over the nation’s resources in order to correct income disparities. 

Caste Census

Modi also pointed to the Congress manifesto which speaks of conducting both a caste census and a socio-economic survey to find out who has how much wealth. “Your wealth that you have worked hard to earn will be taken away,” he says and with a dramatic pause adds that the women could even have their mangalsutra snatched away by the Congress in this wealth redistribution exercise. 

The Congress has been slow to explain what exactly it means by wealth redistribution and Rahul Gandhi has been making speeches that would put Karl Marx himself to shame. That has emboldened the Prime Minister to persist with;  “…the congress is going to take away your wealth” line which he has repeated now for almost a week. The media has amplified his message and there are dozens of forwards on Whatsapp groups that explain in great detail how your wealth is going to be taken away by a Congress Government.

For the record, nowhere does the Congress manifesto speak about taking away anyone’s wealth but since the party has been inept in explaining what its manifesto actually means, the BJP has been quick to take advantage of the ambiguity. 

In between, Sam Pitroda of the Overseas Congress, a close family friend of the Gandhis, gave an interview where he spoke about the need to think about reintroducing an inheritance tax. Modi wasted no time in pouncing on this statement. “The Congress will not only take away your wealth when you are alive but even after you are dead, they will take it away from your children,” he bellowed. On this occasion the Congress was quick to categorically deny any plan on introducing an inheritance tax and managed to douse the flames somewhat. 

Hindu-Muslim Narrative 

Why has the Prime Minister reverted to his tried and tested Hindu-Muslim narrative? After all, a month ago the BJP was speaking of “Ab ki baar, char sau paar,” or this time we will target to win 400 seats. The PM himself was speaking about the Modi Guarantee for the next 5 years. Post the first phase of the polling, the party seemed to have mellowed down a bit on that. 

One major reason is that this appears to have become a waveless election characterised more by bread-and-butter issues than on the Vishwaguru versus pygmies’ narrative that the BJP hoped to create. 

By all accounts the first two phases have not gone as well as the BJP would have hoped and so perhaps, the sudden turn to a Hindu-Muslim narrative. 

Post Phase-2 Scenario 

There is a perception that in States like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan the BJP is facing much stronger headwinds than it did in 2019. No major gains are expected in Kerala and Tamil Nadu beyond increases in vote share. The Ram Mandir does not seem to have had the emotive impact that the BJP would have hoped for. The internal surveys of the party may have necessitated the change in campaign strategy. 

Still, with its massive advantage in terms of electoral machinery, resources and media backing, the BJP remains the favourite to form the Government, post the elections. Viewed in that context the Prime Minister’s shrill rhetoric is puzzling. 

As the electoral battle heads further into the Hindi heartland one can expect a ratcheting up of the polarising pitch. That does no credit to a party that has been in power for a decade and should be going to the voters on the strength of its track record in Government. BJP leaders point out that a large part of the PM’s speeches relate to his record in office but when the “friendly” media amplifies the scaremongering about the Muslims it is clearly not accidental. 

A nervous BJP is not what one expected to see in 2024. But with five more phases to go an election that was, even six weeks ago considered done and dusted, has come alive.

—The author, Sumanth C. Raman, is a political analyst and commentator. The views expressed are personal.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow