winning minds, winning votes

Somebody has lost and somebody has won it already. Voting is not just about winning margins, it is also about the victory of minds as well. This is like entering the battlefield with right frame of mind. Before 2014, Indian polls used to be almost bipolar, for all practical purposes but this election is different because voters want clarity. There want clarity of decision, clarity of choice and clarity of understanding. This time around, we are forced to talk about a new entrant Aam Adami Party, which changed the discourse of Lok Sabha election 2014. Congress was blamed for the birth of AAP. It was termed as B- team of the Congress. Much before the poll dates were announced, UPA-2 had already turned into a passive mode. Congress lost fighting spirit, which became evident as many bigwigs of Congress party left the battle field much to the chagrin of Sonia Gandhi. Worse, PM Dr Man Mohan Singh went into political oblivion, his posters were not part of the Congress campaign, his achievements if any were not talked about. This was misleading, discouraging for the party workers. BJP PM aspirant Narendra Modi emerged on political scene as an assertive, aggressive and bold leader, who talked about development and development. As Congress wanted to pin him down on 2002 Gujarat riots, Modi went ahead and talked about complete metamorphosis. Modi appeared confident. Rahul, the congress nominee for 2014, for most of the time remained disconnected, submissive. Congress workers complained that Rahul never appeared as one preparing for 2014 elections. Modi is accused of not taking other BJP leaders together but one should understand that Modi has always defied the brand of traditional politics. Results would tell whether people liked his style of politicking.