What is the reason that BJP couldn't touch the magic number of 272?

The elections concluded with much grandeur and the results were awaited with baited breath by all. The toppers looked upon it as achieving All India Rank with record numbers while others saw it as  an opportunity to gain lost ground.

It was a very well fought election from the both sides. The voters were offered different kinds of promises. Five years ago it was the slogan of 'Ayega toh Modi hi' which everyone knew that it was the writing on the wall any which ways. But this time around the BJP went a little overboard with its slogan ' Abki baar 400 Paar'. This slogan echoed the confidence of the party but somewhere it bought some kind of apprehension among the voters which the opposition was trying to instill. 

The media diverted its attention towards the numbers but the opposition saw this as an opportunity to create anxiety among the voters that this kind of power will put democracy in danger. The carrying of the constitution everywhere and putting it in display and giving this message of 'democracy in danger' kind of converted this anxiety into fear in the minds of certain sections of voters. The first time voters had no experience of the times pre - 2014, when corruption was rampant. Therefore, the voting from their end looked as though they had kept short term goals and the problems pertaining locally on their end. 

The BJP assumed that construction of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya was their Pulwama moment. It seemed as though the entire party just depended on Lord Ram and the work done by Prime Minister Modi. The party leaders never tried to assess their individual performances at the local level. The party assumed that giving the 400 paar slogan will bolster the voters but it miscalculated the moves of the opposition at the local level. It must have been a shocker for the party for its performance in the state of Uttar Pradesh where it presumed that it will gain majority seats and decimate its opponents.

The BJP laughed off the promises made by the opposition relating to khatakhat money transfer along with guarantee cards. They failed to see that innocent voters were buying the promises made by the opposition and failed to design a strategy to counter it. The ruling party even misjudged the lower voter turnout in the key states and shrugged it off. 

The biggest takeaway was that it is not Brand Modi which has failed but the party fell short of bringing effective strategies to counter the opposition and attract the voters. They just did not communicate their achievements well to the people right from the very beginning of their term. 

The Prime Minister who is a master communicator, who gave interviews to not just National channels and newspapers but also the local and regional channels, was not able to clarify the doubts in people's mind regarding the 'democracy in danger' and 'constitution will be changed' thought which was planted in the minds of the innocent voters by the opposition from the last five years. No doubt this election has revived the opposition but it has also given the ruling party the chance  to introspect itself.  

Disclaimer:

I am not a journalist or a political observer or a political analyst or related to any political party. I am a citizen of India who write about the topics on which I feel I should express my opinion on.