“One vote does it all”

Indian audiences love the unique concept of an ‘interval’ in Bollywood films. As they take a popcorn/cola break, people trade quick reviews and guess “ab interval kay baad kya hoga” (how will the story unfold after the break?). So often we hear people saying “arre, interval tak mazedaar hai, par uske bad picture bundle hai” (the film is good fun until the interval, but boring after that) .

We have now hit the ‘interval’ in the 12-week-long electoral theatre of 2019. So, it’s time to exchange gossip, hedge Prime Minister Modi has transformed from the vikas purush (development man) of 2014 to the strongman of 2019. His campaign pitch is all about bashing Pakistan and exterminating terrorists. He is taking liberties with the truth.

Rahul Gandhi is now opposite fighter of Modi, a leader who seems to respect diversity, even dissent. While Modi enjoys micro-managing and spewing statistics, Rahul seems to focus on the big picture, evident from the manifesto that his team has authored.

The Congress is showing clear signs of revival after its humiliating defeat in 2014 when its vote share had plummeted to a perilous 19 percent. If just a few more percentage points had gotten shaved off from this low level, Modi would have realised his dream of a Congress-mukt (free) Bharat. But with a smart pullback in half a dozen states and several by-elections, the party has shown its will to fight it’s also winning back its core support base of secular Hindus and disenfranchised minorities, including dalits. While most of these regional titans are potential Congress allies in a coalition government that could be formed in May, they are natural foes of both the BJP and Congress in later battles, as the national parties try to expand their footprint across the country. but what we can do now is just to vote and hope for a better future for all,