BJP dominates battle of narratives as 88 seats vote in phase 2 of Lok Sabha polls

In the second phase of polling today, as voters in 88 Lok Sabha seats spread across 13 states vote, the question of which issue seems to be dominating the 2024 Lok Sabha elections seems to be redundant. During the last few months, we have seen how issues have been shifting week by week or at times even day by day, from Ram Mandir to corruption to dynasty and whatnot, the latest addition being the issue of redistribution of wealth. It is known to everyone how BJP has tried to make the issue of redistribution of wealth as promised by the Congress an issue giving it a twist on how Congress plans to take the hard-earned wealth of the people and their forefathers and distribute it amongst the Muslims.

Elections to my mind are largely about narratives, and in the battle of narrative, BJP seems to giving the Congress difficult times. Voters rarely do fact-checking, what is correct and what is incorrect but largely go by the narrative. Right or wrong, all this is being done by political parties to maximize political gains.

While all political parties would be aiming to win as many seats as they can, stakes for the Congress are going to be very high in the second phase. It would be defending 20 of the total 52 Lok Sabha seats which it had won during the 2019 elections. Voting is taking place in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats of Kerala of which Congress had won 15 last time, including Wayanad where Rahul Gandhi got elected as an MP. It may be interesting to keep an eye on the Wayanad seat today as Rahul Gandhi is up against the CPI candidate Annie Raja, wife of CPI leader D Raja. Other constituencies might also witness interesting contests. Thiruvananthapuram is one such seat where Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is up against the BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a minister in the present Narendra Modi government. LDF has fielded Pannayan Ravindran of CPI from this constituency. He had been the MP of Thiruvananthapuram from 2005 to 2009, before the consecutive wins of Shashi Tharoor.  There are few other constituencies where BJP is trying hard to make an impact, but the interest in Kerala largely is about, if BJP will be able to open its account or not even in 2024 after having put in a lot of effort. Every seat for Congress is important if it aims to challenge the BJP in these elections, so it is important for the party not only to retain the lone seats won by the party in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka which go to polls in the second phase, but also to try and win a few more seats to take its tally closer to a three-digit mark. The question remains, will Congress be able to challenge the BJP in the second round of election especially in the wake of PM Modi's relentless attacks over wealth redistribution?

In the second phase of voting, the BJP is defending its 52 Lok Sabha seats won during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. All the 13 seats which go to poll today in Rajasthan have been won by the BJP. With this, voting will be completed in Rajasthan. The BJP would also be defending its 11 victories in Karnataka where the first phase of voting will take place for 14 Lok Sabha seats. Voters of 8 Lok Sabha seats of UP would be casting their vote today all of which have been held by the BJP. The BJP needs to hold on to these seats if it aims to improve upon or at least repeat its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Though only three seats of West Bengal go to polls on April 26, all three are held by the BJP. Thus, it's fighting a prestigious battle in Raiganj, Darjeeling and Balurghat. In the state of MP, which has a four-phase election, polling will be held for seven Lok Sabha seats, all of which are held by the BJP. Let’s not forget, BJP would also be defending its four Lok Sabha seats in Assam and is likely to face a challenge from the Maharashtra Vikas Agadi in Maharashtra.