From guarantee, khata khata to daughter with kidney… these 13 words dominated the 44-day election campaign, know who said what

Nandita Sengupta: The results of the Lok Sabha elections will be out on June 4. Congress, BJP and other regional parties campaigned a lot for the Lok Sabha elections. During this time, the leaders as well as their speeches were discussed a lot. But during the 44 days of noisy election campaign, the politicians told us a lot. Politicians used many words in their speeches. In such a situation, here we will discuss those words that left an impact on our minds.

1. Crossed 400

The number that kickstarted the BJP’s election campaign. You set a target, you defend it. To beat the Congress record, the BJP claimed 400+ seats to win. In the first phase, the India Alliance parties capitalised on this claim. They played the Constitution card. They outflanked the BJP on the use of online and social media. Later, the BJP stopped flaunting the number. Re-floated it, and stopped again. It cannot be set in stone and sometimes clashed with perceptions. Exit polls have again projected 400-plus. We will know about it tomorrow.
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2. Temple

Ram Mandir is a reality. BJP targeted the enthusiastic vote for the temple in January. Before the ceremony, Modi’s electoral arrows pierced the north-south divide as he/she took a holy dip in the waters of Rameswaram, visited places associated with Ram in the south. Temple politics has rekindled BJP’s cause. Mandir-vikas is BJP in mission mode. Ram is always looming, never too far from the rally slogan.
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3. Kachchativu

Who knew in January that Rameswaram would soon be in the news again? By the end of March, an old mystery from half a century ago across the Palk Strait between Sri Lanka and India resurfaced. The BJP tried to make an election issue of the Indian government’s decision to give an uninhabited island to Sri Lanka in 1974. It created some buzz, but it sank into the sea again as soon as Tamil Nadu was over.

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4. Eternal

Another issue that took root in the south and spread to the north was the ‘Sanatana’ part. Udhayanidhi Stalin’s criticism of Hinduism became a weapon for the BJP. The India Alliance parties north of the Vindhyas started scurrying for cover. Many turncoats who had left the India Alliance joined the BJP, talking of ‘insult to Sanatana’.

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5. Guarantee

From Modi government guarantee to Modi guarantee, the BJP in 2024 has shifted its governance promise to the prime minister. In UP, Yogi may be the warranty, but the guarantee is Modi. For 543 seats, one message – Modi. The beneficiaries are from 2019. The beneficiaries are from the Covid-era. Interestingly, the Congress first used the 5 guarantees during the Karnataka assembly campaign in May 2023. By December 2023, the claimant to the ‘guarantee’ was the BJP.

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6. Right

The demand for caste census gave rise to the slogan ‘Jitni Aabadi, Utna Haq’ in the India Alliance, while party leaders were at loggerheads over seat sharing. Their argument was: Jitni Prabhat, Utna Haq. India’s main theme, ‘Haq’ is an integral part of the Congress’ Nyay Manifesto.

7. Mangalsutra

An emotional rewriting of ‘haq’ from the BJP was that India would take away hard-earned wealth, inheritance and property. Its metaphor was the mangalsutra. It is not made of any gold – but a gold chain that binds a woman to the ‘honour’ of the family. The Comeback of India alliance was equally emotional.

8. Knocking

The election campaign rhetoric was swift, like when Rahul Gandhi used the word to promise the delivery of services from day one. The swift reply from Modi was that the India Alliance would be out of this battle as fast as it could. This K-pop eventually turned into ads and slogans – khatakhat, khatakhat.

9. Tempo

Corruption allegations have become an election issue. Modi said tempos filled with allegedly ill-gotten money were being sent to opposition parties. This led to a flood of memes on social media showing SUVs and planes as tempos. Counter-protesters put their lives at stake to give the tempos a new tempo.

10. Daughter with a kidney

Lalu campaigned for his/her daughter Rohini Acharya, the RJD candidate contesting against BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran. In his/her earthy style, Lalu reiterated that she is the ‘kidney giving daughter’. In a country where doctors are dismayed that married women are expected to ‘save’ kidneys only for the needs of marital family members, Rohini was Lalu’s message.

11. ED

Leaders went to voters, ED went to leaders. Investigative agencies were the theme of election campaigns. They were not bothered by it, they were swooping down on opposition leaders. The instinct of self-preservation allegedly pushed many leaders to change.

12. M for?

Modi, of course, everything in the election was, in fact, about him/her. But M also stands for Mamata and her Maa, Maati, Manush. Targeting opposition parties, the BJP went on mission mode, talking about mutton, madrassas, mafia, misrule and itself. M was for Muslim League, as well as Maa Kali and Mahakaal.

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13. K has the key

Finally, the K factor rang loudly. Both sides fighting over the ‘real’ Kerala story, sporadic fanning of Khalistan hysteria, Article 370 of Kashmir. Khandaan (lineage) mattered, as did earnings. Kharge’s open letters to the PM pushed many buttons; Kejriwal did not exactly stay off the airwaves. And Kashi, where the ‘Kyoto waale’ – an Indian nickname for Modi who has promised to build a temple city like the capital of old Japan – was the candidate.