Modi wave created by advertising propaganda: Prashant Bhushan

Interview with Senior AAP leader and Supreme Court lawyer

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has got its second breakthrough in Punjab. Of the over-400 seats it had contested in the Lok Sabha polls, four of the 13 fielded from that state returned victorious. Senior AAP leader and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells Somesh Jha the reasons the party failed to build on its Delhi success in the general elections

What are the lessons for AAP from this Lok Sabha election?

One takeaway is something that we knew and has been re-emphasised in this election - that money and advertising play a huge role, especially in this first-past-the-post system. This is because people tend to vote for those parties that they see or perceive as viable and winnable.

That perception is created to a very large extent by advertising propaganda, which is money-based. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran a very professional advertising campaign - well-organised and well-designed. And it worked very well.

The other takeaway is that sometimes our own perceptions of our own standing can be quite wrong. That has happened clearly so in this election. My perception of where we stood was not correct.

Where did you place yourself before the results?

I was expecting that we would become a national party, at least, and that we would get a vote share of over 6 per cent in five to six states. We also expected to win at least 10 seats, including four to five in Delhi. But we have clearly done worse than that.

What do you think went wrong?

Modi ki wave chali (it was a Narendra Modi wave). That was the main thing and in that wave, we could not create a perception in our favour, except in Delhi and Punjab. Delhi still had that perception because we had won once in the state, so people who wanted to vote for us did so. In Punjab, that perception was built because of other reasons. The special investigative team that we had set up (for looking into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots) was also a reason for that. This gave us 25 per cent of the votes in Punjab and 33 per cent in Delhi, but in no other state have we got above 6 per cent. Ultimately, all the propaganda and the fact that BJP has done so well shows that this whole thing worked. The ad blitz, which was unprecedented, clicked.

How will you strategise for future elections?

They (BJP) will also get exposed. This kind of myth-making about Modi can only work once. The reality will be known to people by the next election.

Your party had a strong campaign in Gujarat as well. Your team had gone there to 'expose' the Gujarat model to the people of the state. What went wrong there?

Our party organisation in many states was not up to the mark. In some states, our candidate selection was also not up to the mark.

In hindsight, do you regret that the party shifted its focus to Varanasi from where Arvind Kejriwal took on Modi?

I do not think that was wrong. Else we would not have fought against Modi, but we had to clearly concentrate on that. It was a correct decision from that point of view. Varanasi was important because the whole myth-making centred around Modi and, therefore, challenging him was important.

And in Amethi? Kumar Vishwas was stationed there for a long time.

People do not vote because you are there and you have contacted them. People vote only if they feel you are viable and winnable and that you pose a credible challenge. Here people normally do not vote in an isolated constituency. They are voting for a party that will form the government. Amethi has been the Gandhi family's constituency for a long time and they (Gandhis) have an advantage there. We were not able to counter that perception.

What was the biggest disappointment for the party?

I would say it is the fact that this whole wave and this propaganda and advertising seem to have worked. That is quite disappointing. It shows the extent to which money can influence an election.

After Kejriwal put in his papers in Delhi, what was your view? Could you have gone to the people to ask them if you needed to step down from the government?

The resignation was a hasty decision. Probably we should have [gone to the people].

What will be your next move?

We need to first reorganise the party. We are not well organised in many places. We need to keep highlighting and make the issues of crony capitalism, swaraj and electoral reforms the focal point. These need to be brought into public focus.