PM Modi may not be decisive factor for MP

THE MADHYA PRADESH ELECTIONS COULD WELL BE THE FIRST WHERE MODI IS NOT THE ONLY PROMINENT FACTOR THE FOCUS IS PRIMARILY ON STATE LEADERS

SHAHDOL/JABALPUR/SAGAR/MORENA/ GWALIOR: wanted to come.” Was his speech enough to convince them to vote for BJP in the state polls? “No. He will not run the government in Bhopal. This is not his election.”

Back in the Morena government office, a local official said, “Voters are very aware now. They know the distinction between a local and general election, an election for Bhopal and an election for Delhi.” And that is why what happens on results day, December 11 cannot be extrapolated into what will eventually happen in 2019 national elections.

Many credit Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his attempt at rural transformation. Across villages, even his most strident critics admit that the government has worked on four key schemes — rural housing, rural roads, toilets and distribution of gas cylinders.

Bijay Chaudhary in Nauroli village in Sagar district tells fellow Dalits that this shows the BJP has worked for the poor. Dharmendra Thakur, a local BJP councillor in the district’s Khurai constituency, claims that welfare delivery is Modi’s biggest contribution. Narayan Singh Yadav, a contractor in Morena, says that Modi has changed life in rural areas. In Boyera and Gopalpura villages in Jhabua, tribals acknowledge that money has come into their accounts for housing.

But there are also robust voices critiquing Modi from across communities.

Satyendra Pariyar of Narsinghpur’s Kathgodiya village says, “A gas cylinder is now more than ₹1,000 and so people are returning to their old ways of cooking. For houses, even though the government has promised ₹150,000, not all the money comes into the account. There is still corruption. And can you really make toilets for ₹12,000 now?”

Amit, a driver in Bhopal, says the prime minister is actually taking away votes from the BJP this time around.

“He did demonetisation. He did GST [Goods and Services Tax]. Chouhan has to carry the baggage of his unpopular policies. The Centre has done little for us who belong to the lower middle class.”