From the Urdu Press: ‘BJP’s 400 paar pitch has backfired’; ‘EC silence is disquieting, must show impartiality through action’

With 190 constituencies having gone to polls in the first two phases, voting has concluded in about one-third of the total Lok Sabha constituencies. The Urdu dailies highlighted the dip in the turnout in the first and second phases, analysing the factors besides the rising mercury which might have dampened voters’ enthusiasm. They also tracked the shifting sands of the campaign narratives, underlining that the ruling BJP has now started fighting shy of its aggressive “400 paar” pitch.

Flagging a shift in the BJP’s campaign, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial on April 24, says that the changing tone and tenor of all parties mirrors the prevailing situation — arrogant when wind is blowing in their favour, and a softened rhetoric when they sense public discontent. “The campaigns of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also seem to be undergoing a transformation. Ahead of the polls, they sounded triumphalist, fuelled by a fawning media, raising the slogan of ‘400 paar (beyond 400 seats)’. Their objective was to make an imprint on the public mind that the BJP’s spectacular victory was a foregone conclusion,” it writes. “However, they seem to have now realised that the situation may be different on the ground. That explains why the PM himself has started indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics in his campaigning. Themes like development and economic progress have been put aside. And fear is being whipped up that even women’s mangalsutras would not be spared if the Congress returns to the helm.”

The daily notes that the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies have continued to claim that the intent of the BJP’s “400 paar” target was “to change the Constitution”, thus threatening the reservation regime for the vulnerable and