THE question would seem odd, given the chorus of drumbeats from the media, mostly Indian but also some foreign, proclaiming victory for the Indian prime minister in the coming April-May elections.

Do revisit the claims anyway, preferably with an open mind. Two lessons from India’s electoral history beg a fresh discussion about the prospects for a free and fair election ahead. And then see the potential for the ruling party to stick with its premature claim of a landslide.

The examples of Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee losing the polls would help. Gandhi lost the election after winning the unprecedented 400-plus seats in the previous round. And Vajpayee lost his third term bid after the opinion polls failed to see through the hollowness of his heavily advertised ‘India Shining’ campaign. Could Prime Minister Narendra Modi win the landslide of 400-plus seats he has predicted for the BJP in a free and fair election? The key is free and fair elections.

It was the BJP, which, after losing the second time in a row to the Manmohan Singh-led alliance in 2009, went to town badmouthing the electronic voting machines, commonly known as EVMs. They lost the elections because the EVMs were rigged. So claimed BJP supporters. A party adviser also published a detailed book canvassing support against the voting machines and claiming that Lal Kishan Advani’s crushing defeat as the BJP’s prospective successor to prime minister Vajpayee wouldn’t be possible but for the disputed EVMs.

Prime Minister........

© Dawn