Modi is the manifesto: Why BJP doesn’t need a hefty document:
To
be sure, the ban makes little sense since the manifesto can always be
webcast and transmitted to the electorate through social media. The ban
suits also the BJP fine since, by default or by design, its manifesto
has become the talking point in the run up to the first phase of the
general election. The party cannot but be relishing this attention. Even
if the TV channels can’t attend the unveiling, who can stop them from
discussing it?
If the opinion polls are any guide to reality, the BJP is doing quite well without a manifesto, thank you. The Congress’s all-things-to-all people manifesto is not making any difference to the aad aadmi’s voting intent. The truth is manifestoes are too complex to make a difference. What voters look for are simple messages that they can digest. A simple freebie or slogan (Rice at Rs 2, Garibi Hatao) is far easier to understand than a 60-page document that promises everything from a lower fiscal deficit to women’s empowerment to a broadband revolution. Voters are not fools. They know that all governments promise the moon and end up offering a mere reflection of it in the voter’s bowl. So the one credible promise will always work better than a platter of pies-in-the-sky.
In 2004, the BJP’s India Shining manifesto flopped miserably. In 2009, the Telugu Desam promised everything from free houses to unemployment incomes to Andhra voters, but YSR trounced him. YSR even managed to beat back the Telangana wave by promising Telangana during phase one of the voting and then reneging on it in the Seemandhra phase. This time Rahul Gandhi has promised even more rights and entitlements – from health to houses to even entrepreneurship – but the polls have not registered any impact as yet.
This is why Modi is the message: By being himself and positioning himself as the guy who gets things done, Modi is selling the idea that he will solve their problems, whatever they are. He does not quite need a Manifesto.
If the opinion polls are any guide to reality, the BJP is doing quite well without a manifesto, thank you. The Congress’s all-things-to-all people manifesto is not making any difference to the aad aadmi’s voting intent. The truth is manifestoes are too complex to make a difference. What voters look for are simple messages that they can digest. A simple freebie or slogan (Rice at Rs 2, Garibi Hatao) is far easier to understand than a 60-page document that promises everything from a lower fiscal deficit to women’s empowerment to a broadband revolution. Voters are not fools. They know that all governments promise the moon and end up offering a mere reflection of it in the voter’s bowl. So the one credible promise will always work better than a platter of pies-in-the-sky.
In 2004, the BJP’s India Shining manifesto flopped miserably. In 2009, the Telugu Desam promised everything from free houses to unemployment incomes to Andhra voters, but YSR trounced him. YSR even managed to beat back the Telangana wave by promising Telangana during phase one of the voting and then reneging on it in the Seemandhra phase. This time Rahul Gandhi has promised even more rights and entitlements – from health to houses to even entrepreneurship – but the polls have not registered any impact as yet.
This is why Modi is the message: By being himself and positioning himself as the guy who gets things done, Modi is selling the idea that he will solve their problems, whatever they are. He does not quite need a Manifesto.
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