Over the last 30 years, Chandrakant Bhujbal has been studying and analysing elections and psychology of voters. The founder director of Political Research and Analysis Bureau says since 2014, the general psychology of voters has changed and elections are becoming more personality-oriented. In an interview to The Indian Express, Bhujbal holds forth on the upcoming Lok Sabha election and how local issues feature less in them. Before the declaration of the Lok Sabha election dates, the voter list was updated. Do you think the Election Commission has managed to sanitise the list? The voter list that will be used for the upcoming election has seen the addition of a large number of first-time voters. The exercise has also seen the deletion of migrant and double entries. So, we can say the voter list has been sanitised to a certain extent. Over the years, double entries crept into the list due to which names appeared in two places. Deleting such names was necessary and that has been done for the list this time. How important are local issues in these elections? Do you think voters will give importance to such issues or will the election be personality oriented? The BJP, through an extensive outreach machinery, has tried to equate the image of the Prime Minister as a solution to all problems. Even for local issues, the image has been created in a manner to convey that these problems will be solved only if Modi is elected to power at the Centre. The PM is credited with fast decision-making and his image is such that he is not scared of anyone. Thus, at least for the general election, the ruling party has managed to shift the focus from issues. In this election, Modi is projected as the party and voting for the local BJP candidate is voting for Modi. Click here for more election news Unlike previous elections, the attitude towards turncoat candidates has changed. Earlier, such candidates would have found it extremely difficult to be elected but this is not so now. Why has this happened? As I said earlier, since 2014, the overriding personality of the PM has loomed large and been projected over the psyche of the voter. So, voting for the party is voting for him and that is an image that has been carefully cultivated. Turncoat candidates, who are fighting on the lotus symbol, are seen as being on the PM’s side. Earlier, when local candidates were valued, such party-hopping was not well received by the voter. Turncoat candidates might not find it easy in Assembly or local body elections, but as of now, in the general election, the overpowering personality of the PM will make voters look the other way. Is having such a personality cult good for democracy? Also, is this is the only reason for the BJP’s rise? Of course, such focus on a single personality is not good for democracy. But this is not the only reason for the rise of the BJP. The party started growing when it started accepting everyone within its folds. Earlier, it was selective about who to admit in the party. Some leaders, when asked about admitting criminal elements into their folds, have even talked about the absolution that they receive. Actually, the party has realised that it was not growing due to this and have abandoned it. How important is money power in elections? Money is always important in elections, but now there has been a decentralisation of the same. Karyakartas get the money instead of the voters, which is certainly new. Parties in power have always abused institutions for their own good. However, the extent to which the BJP is doing it, is certainly more than what Congress might have done. The Opposition talks of how elections can be suspended if Modi is voted back and that is based on their fear of how the institutions will be used to fix elections.
