BHUBANESWAR: The results of the 2024 general elections and the Odisha Assembly election have once again proved the expertise of the thoughtfulness of the Indian voters. The whole of the electoral process and the outcomes have fortified the strength of the Indian democratic system and increased the confidence the people have in the system. A mature democracy not only believes in a robust government but requires and depends on a strong opposition. One day before the declaration of the final result of the general elections, the chief election commissioner, Rajiv Kumar announced in the press conference that this time the Indian voters have created a record worldwide by casting 64 per cent votes in the 2024 general elections. This number is one and a half times the G-7 countries and two and a half times more than the whole 27 European Union. The election results of both the national and the state of Odisha elections have proved wrong to the predictions of the political analysts. Where the BJD once was known for its complete swipe in the state elections and Naveen Patnaik was considered the unbeaten chief minister who was going to make the record as the longest-serving chief minister in the country after winning this one election, but lost one of the two seats measurably and another won with a very less margin. In the general election ns 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party got 282 seats and in 2019 the seats were increased to 303 marking the swinging majority. In the 2024 elections, political analysts were predicting that the BJP would upsurge its majority up to 350 seats but that has dipped down to 240. The reason is the people and their worthwhile role in the electoral democracy.
For more compliance one needs to analyse the 2014 general election. There can be a great similarity between the process of both the 2014 and 2024 general elections. In the 1999 general elections, the BJP got 182 seats and NDA got 303 seats whereas they formed government and Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister of India. During the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the social, and economic, development the country had achieved is still considered the highest standard in Indian governance. During his tenure, the Pokhran nuclear blast, the win over the Kargil War, the connectivity of the national highways, the Pradhan Mantri Gramya Sadak yojana, Sarva Sikhya Abhiyan etc are some of the numerous list of developmental projects taken place in the country. The most important was the economic growth in the country. There was more than 8% economic growth in the country during the Vajpayee government. Three new states named Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh were formed for the decentralisation of governance. During this time the popularity of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was at its peak. In 2003, the result of the assembly elections in three states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh was in favour of the NDA. So the party workers were joyful and came to think that this was the right time to succeed in the general elections. As a result, the election was announced six months before the usual time and the ‘ India Shining ‘ slogan was created to fascinate and lure the voters. As per reports, Prime Minister Vajpayee was not in favour of the slogan initially but later he chose to be silent for the party pressure.
The election was conducted in four phases from April 20 to May 10 2004. After the completion of the second phase election, the party workers began to sense from the prediction that the election was not going in their favour. But there was no option left then. The NDA alliance got only 181 seats and the BJP got 138 seats in the 2004 election however the number of seats was 303 and 182 respectively in 1999. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sensed that the party would lose the election as he had expressed it to his close aid Shiv Kumar during his election campaign in Lucknow. Vajpayee stated, ‘ I am going within the people and can understand the feelings of them. The people cannot connect with the slogan India Shining’. These facts are mentioned in an interview with Shiv Kumar in 2018. Lal Krishna Advani has mentioned in his biography, My County, My Life, ‘ we lost the 2004 general election primarily for two major factors, firstly our arrogant self-confidence and secondly our ‘ India Shining ‘ slogan. Arrogance destroys success. The opposition showed and started questioning the contemporary reality of India such as poverty, unemployment, and financial differences by using our election slogan, and also succeeded in convincing the people. After the defeat of the NDA, Pramod Mahajan asked Vajpayee if we could form the government by making alliances with other parties if permitted. But Vajpayee replied calmly that the voters in the country had indicated us to take the place of the opposition. We should obey their decision and that’s what happened. At that time the chief of the national swayam sevak sangha, K.S Sudarsan had noted strictly that the country had developed, and there were suitable leaders in the party as well but it didn’t have an ideology. The reality is that in the last five years, certain people in the party have become ideology in themselves and they are the support systems and consolation for the party in the depletion. The senior leaders should open the path for the young and future leaders in the party.
After the result of the 2024 general election, the national swayam sevak Sangha member Mohan Bhagat said in a meeting in Nagpur that a true sevak always maintains humbleness regarding his work or actions. When there is a mention of ‘I have done this/ that’ then the arrogance comes in. During the election campaign, both sides, the ruling party and the opposition practised a severe amount of mud-slinging, and blame game without reckoning its socio-political impact. The people of the country have given their verdict through the election. We should move ahead despite all the differences. There is a long tradition of the Indian voter’s observation and correct election verdict. In the 1971 election, the Congress alliance under the leadership of Indira Gandhi got 352 seats and formed the government, but in 1977, it got 154 seats only. The voters were petrified by the horror of the emergency. The result was the defeat of Indira Gandhi and his son Sanjay Gandhi in the election. The Indian voters have shown their mature sense of judgement from the first elections in 1951-52. At that time, the literacy rate in India was only 16% and India was but 3% of the world economy. During that time big countries like America were under the impression that a poor and illiterate country like India could not retain the democratic system. But it was proved wrong, the reason being there had been a democratic system in India from the ancient period itself. India has always been the country of the people, for the people and by the people, since time immemorial.
