In the recently concluded elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a second term. While I am not a huge supporter of BJP, I have always believed that a person needs sufficient time to effect lasting change and because of this reason, I was relieved to see Narendra Modi get a second term in a row. However, the tactics employed by the ruling party to garner votes and attention seemed to indicate general trend towards favouring the popular sentiment rather than what is logical or backed by facts.

All the campaigns were tailored to get mass appeal. There was a movie that was strategically released to malign a former prime minister. Another movie about Narendra Modi had to be postponed for release after the elections because it would surely have influenced the elections (however the controversy behind the stay generated enough attention to influence voters). Some of the methods were unconventional; an interview by a popular Bollywood actor had Modi reveal how Barack Obama was concerned by his excessive hard work. All these campaign had one underlying theme : anything to win (or) in more polished terms, All’s fair in love and war.

The opposing party was no match and could not mount a decent challenge to the extremely creative and focused election campaign tactics by the BJP. This points towards a possibility of future elections being driven by “mass appeal” generating rhetoric rather than messages of substances. Maybe, the society itself has transformed and is more sympathetic to the flashy campaigns as no one really has time to scratch beyond the surface? Let’s see and hope for the best..