EVEN as the Lok Sabha elections complete the third phase, the country finds itself in the thick of many fake narratives crafted by different political parties. The worst among those trending narratives is that the ruling Modi Government is on a downward spiral, thanks to the low percentage of polling in most parts of the country. This narrative is outright fake (which one would realise after analysing facts properly) and is aimed at confusing the common, unsuspecting voters that they are being taken for a ride. For, there is no evidence to suggest that a low polling percentage indicates a loss of appeal for Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and his Government and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yet, the Merchants of fakeness of the Opposition are trying to propagate the idea that Prime Minister Mr. Modi is failing -- in the hope that this propaganda would affect the polling patterns of the people in the remaining phases of elections. Fortunately for the country, this propaganda has no substance and the common voters have understood that. In sharp contrast, the Prime Minister and his cohorts are supremely confident that things are going in their favour and their slogan Abki Baar 400 paar is going to prove itself right. They insist that low polling percentage does not suggest in any manner the loss of vote for the ruling party or the Government.

 

While lower polling percentage can be a matter of national concern, it may not daunt the political brains. For, as they insist, lowered polling may at the worst mean lesser popular participation in elections that are considered a festival of democracy. But minus that, everything else is the same -- they insist. By this assertion, the ruling combine of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) means to suggest that the immense popularity Prime Minister Mr. Modi enjoys is intact and will give the ruling alliance the 400+ advantage. There is another angle as well to this issue. In the first two phases of polling, it became quite clear that in most places, there is no massive downward alteration in the voter-turn-out -- in the sense, polling percentages have not taken a nosedive. Those figures appear to have remained more or less the same as during the last elections in 2019. Most Lok Sabha constituencies have retained their traditional percentages. This statistical detail proves the wrongness and fakeness of the Opposition narrative. Seen from multiple angles, the plight of the Opposition is pathetic. For, in an attempt to influence the people’s choices in subsequent phases, the Opposition has tried to build fake narratives without any substance and support of facts.

 

This also shows their desperation and betrays a tacit realisation that they are fighting a losing battle -- or a battle whose results were a foregone conclusion in the Prime Minister’s favour. The most unfortunate part of the Indian democracy is that at least at this point, the country does not have a credible alternative to the ruling alliance. When such alternatives exist, they elicit from the people the best possible choices by way of elected representatives in high forums. There is no doubt that Mr. Narendra Modi is leading a very credible alliance and is slated to return to power for the third time with a thumping majority. Convinced that they are slated to lose, all that the Opposition could do was to impose on the country another fake narrative in the hope that it may impact voter choice in later stages of the current elections. In previous election of 2019, similar atmosphere was seen when predictions were made that Mr. Narendra Modi was slated to lose and the BJP would not get even 200 seats. That fake trending did not work then and won’t work now.