Saturday, March 11, 2017

Anti-incumbency and pro-Modi

Election results indicate that voters are keen to vote out the governing parties in the hope that others would do a better job. So, SP is out in UP, Congress in Uttarakhand, and SAD in Punjab (not so sad!). BJP is struggling in Goa and Congress in Manipur.

What does anti-incumbency mean? Are the incumbent ministries not doing well or are the voters' expectations too high? It is probably a combination of both.

BJP's extraordinary performance in UP is certainly the result of the Modi magic. His indefatigable energy and effective communication could not be matched by his opponents. He takes risks and gets rewarded in adequate measure. His demonetisation move was perhaps a shot in the dark with unforeseeable consequences. Even when things were not working well, he was able to keep the inconvenienced people in his side. That is a clear mark of leadership: Do not hesitate to take risk and even if things don't pan out well, limit the damages and focus on the plus points.

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