The first elections in free India happened in 1951-52. The Indian National Congress won a landslide victory, winning in 365 of the 489 constituencies. We came a long way since then. Elections in India were sometimes dramatic too. NTR, a famous actor, swept the elections in AP in the early 80s within an year of launching his party. Chiranjeevi, the megastar of AP film industry, has lost badly after launching his party. Narendra Modi swept the 2014 elections with a campaign similar to the US Presidential election campaigns. (PS: Many of the examples in this post may be from AP, but relevant to the Indian scenario)
The electorate changed too; along with them changed their expectations from a government or a political party. We have come a long way from the times when roti, kapda and makan were the major things promised in a manifesto. In this blogpost, I write about how the expections of an aam aadmi have changed from a government. These are purely my thoughts or sometimes even perceptions.
1. Employment / Growth: I feel this is the biggest change, positively, in the electorate. The need for employment and the activities driving employment is a necessity across the country. Thanks to the media, people now understand basic macro economic terms like GDP, inflation, deficit, growth etc. Their relevance has increased even more after 2008-09 recession and the long period of heavy inflation. So when Rahulk Gandhi promised empowerment, it raised more question marks.
2. Infrastructure: We need infrastructure. Be it cities/towns, railways, roads, electricity, irrigation etc. The urge to live in a developed India has been strenthened even more by our movies which time and again are filmed in foreign locations. Narendra Modi's smart cities, bullet trains hit the bulls eye among the electorate.
3. Results / Numbers: We need results. We are now indifferent to the 5 year plans, Vision 2020s, 1 years agendas etc. We need results, and quickly. This could be anything from launching a satellite, building a dam, nuclear power plant, new trains.. anything. We need something to see.
4. Freebies, not mandatory: The recent victory of Narendra Modi shows that we can win in India without offering free roti, kapda aur makaan. This has been the strategy for many political parties in countless elections. However, people now want avenues to earn their meal. I cannot completely rule out this strategy, however it has changed substantially in many of the states.
5. Finally, a government which can speak: The previous government(s) have left many unanswered questions raised by the people and media. It is true that Manmohan Singh did only 3 press conferences in his entire term of the UPA 2 government. We need a more vocal prime minister, who can talk to us, address our issues, answer our questions. We need a government which does not hide behind the pillars of the parliament.
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