As election season heats up with the soaring summer temperatures in India, the contests, rivalry, and political games are proving to be quite an entertainer for the people of India. With three phases of the elections now being over and four more remaining, the shades and moods of democracy are a delight to watch some times.
In a video shared on social media, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath was seen in a candid conversation with India Today’s Rahul Kanwal in his show Jab We Met aired on 24 April, where he travels to different parts of the country to interview political leaders.
https://twitter.com/Vishupedia/status/1121218381997400064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In the video, Rahul Kanwal is seen walking with MP CM Kamal Nath conversing on political issues where the CM approaches some people gathered near a fence wall to watch. Kamal Nath asks the people whether they will support Rahul Gandhi in the upcoming elections. The people immediately reply “No”. When asked whom they will rather support, they say, ‘Kamal Nath’.
The video suggests that at a local level, leaders like Kamal Nath, even though they are corrupt and allegedly had a hand in the 1884 genocide of Sikhs, still have more acceptability compared to Rahul.
Interestingly, Rahul Kanwal is seen saying to Kamal Nath that he might get in trouble for this.
https://twitter.com/NupurSharmaBJP/status/1121102327803449344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The interaction might have been brief and may not reflect the mood of the voters like some opinion polls or predictions. But it does reflect the disenchantment of the people from the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The Indian voter has changed a lot. No longer can the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty expect to win over voters by just flashing their faces and smiles.
However, BJP spokesperson Suresh Nakhua has claimed that India Today had deleted the video of the people’s interaction with Kamal Nath after they uploaded it.
https://twitter.com/SureshNakhua/status/1121296716731437056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In the run-up to the general elections, it was evident that most regional parties in the opposition did not want Rahul Gandhi as their potential PM candidate. Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, and Chandrababu Naidu had openly criticised the idea when DMK endorsed Rahul as the PM candidate. This also shows that the era where the Gandhi dynasty dictated terms in Indian politics might be long over. Congress had tried fielding Priyanka Gandhi as another desperate attempt to cash in the ‘Naamdar power’ but that stunt too seems to have failed miserably.
This is also in contrast to the supporters of BJP, because, while the opposition might get support for local leaders from the masses, perhaps no BJP supporter will ever say that they do not want PM Modi. In fact, in most interactions seen in news shows and social media, BJP supporters in even the most rural, remote regions say they are voting for PM Modi.