Farmers’ issue, lack of jobs failed to sway electorate

The results of the Assembly elections reveal that the unemployment issue, emphasised by Congress leaders such as Rahul Gandhi and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had little to no impact on voters. Despite the Congress making unemployment a central issue throughout its campaign, the BJP successfully secured a majority in the state.

On September 20, Rahul visited Ghoghripur village to meet families of youth who had migrated to the US via the ‘donkey route’. During his visit and address in Assandh, he highlighted the growing unemployment, promising that the Congress would provide 2 lakh permanent jobs to the youth if elected.

Similarly, BS Hooda and his son Deepender focused their campaign on unemployment and farmer grievances, including the lack of a law guaranteeing MSP. They argued that these problems reflected the BJP government’s failures.

However, the election results tell a different story. The BJP retained several key strongholds and even gained in areas where the opposition had hoped to capitalise on these concerns. Political analysts suggest that while unemployment and farmer protests were significant issues, they did not influence voter behaviour.

“Unemployment is a major issue and the opposition raised it effectively,” said Dr Kushal Pal, a political analyst and principal of Indira Gandhi National College Ladwa. “However, the results show that the issue failed to resonate with voters, who instead gave a mandate in favour of the BJP. It appears that identity politics overshadowed these real issues.”

Dr Balram Sharma, assistant professor of political science at DAV College, Karnasaid, “The BJP retained power as people chose to support it, sidelining the issues raised by the Opposition.”