Hitting out at political analysts after his party’s massive victory in the Lok Sabha election , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reminded them that “arithmetic had been trumped by chemistry this time.”
Debunking ‘poll pundits’, Mr. Modi said that if even after three successful campaigns by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh — 2014, 2017 and 2019 — they don’t open their eyes and ears, it means their ideas and logic have become obsolete, making them unfit for analysis in the 21st century.
On a thanksgiving visit to Varanasi after his victory for the second time, Mr. Modi said, “A poor man connected to the ground has a better understanding of things than those with 50-page profiles and degrees.”
The election results may be about numbers, and in the 20th century even the scope of elections may have been around arithmetic, but after the BJP’s successive victories , political analysts “must accept that beyond arithmetic, there is also chemistry,” he said.
Mr. Modi said some people were playing the “same worn-out cassettes” and trying to build a “frightful” perception of his party while deploying “lies” to ensure that a “correct perception” was not built.
Without naming anybody, Mr. Modi said more than 90% of the forces established in the country in the last 70 years were behind the negative campaign. But, he said, “transparency and hardwork” allowed his party and him to move forward despite efforts to damage their perception.
Mr. Modi also questioned the “Hindi heartland party” tag for the BJP, saying it was heading governments in every region of the country.
He said such a perception was being created even though it was the biggest party in Karnataka, had ruled Goa for many years, had a representative in Ladakh, was running governments in the north-east and increasing its vote share in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
