Country will witness anxious days post-elections, says Psephologist Dr. H.V. Vasu

Mysore/Mysuru: Post-elections, India will experience anxious days as fake news and videos continue to circulate through social media,” claimed Dr. H.V. Vasu, Psephologist and Editor of eedina.com portal.

Addressing the topic ‘Elections 2024 – Prospects and Perspectives’ at an event organised by the Mysore Open Forum (MOF) at the Kalpa Kshetra Auditorium in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage this morning, Vasu emphasised the urgent need for a new political system, a concept advocated by former AICC President Rahul Gandhi.

“Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi has not even been able to implement the new political system he has been advocating within his own party,” Vasu remarked.

Reflecting on election surveys, Vasu noted that while surveys conducted during previous Assembly elections were based on various castes and aimed to understand the thought process of the people, the surveys conducted for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections have been confusing. This has led to speculation about the future of democracy.

Alleging that apart from the Supreme Court, no other institution in the country was functioning properly, Vasu remarked, “The media, which is supposed to act as the watchdog of democracy, has instead become hunting dogs. This election is far from normal with political leaders making statements according to their whims and fancies. However, the salaried middle-class voters have managed to normalise what seems like an abnormal election.”

Regarding the projection of the BJP as the strongest party, Vasu argued that statistically, it is incorrect. He pointed out that while the BJP won 1,484 assembly seats out of the total 4,123 seats in the country, the Congress secured 2,500 seats. “During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP’s success was attributed to incidents like Pulwama and Balakot,” Vasu added.

Highlighting the rarity of a single party returning to power at the Centre since 1966, Vasu drew parallels with Karnataka, where D. Devaraj Urs was the only leader to achieve consecutive terms in 1983. Since then, no politician has replicated this feat.

Expressing concerns about JD(S) aligning with BJP, Vasu warned that such a move could be fatal for the regional party. He mentioned previous attempts by the BJP to undermine JD(S) using symbols like the Kempegowda statue and controversies surrounding figures like Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda.

Adding to his remarks, Vasu claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity had significantly declined with only 35 percent supporting him. Senior Journalist Krishna Prasad also spoke on the subject. Following the presentations, there was a question-and-answer session.