BJP's wrong plank to take them nowhere

The BJP, instead of harping on national security and Balakot airstrike, should have got into the debate on unemployment and agrarian distress. It suffers a real crisis of credibility in terms of numbers and date.

So, it was up to the party to convince the electorate that reports had not been buried; provide credible explanations, not spin, on the sectors where jobs have been created.

It should have answered specific questions on why farm protests have been a recurring feature; how it squares taking such pride in low food inflation with its commitment to increasing agricultural incomes; and what it has done and will do for other sectors which provide rural non-agricultural employment.

The two parties respond to each other on these issues at a tactical level. But in terms of the big messages from the big leaders, and the campaigns by their propaganda machines, they stick to their own narratives.

In the process, India is witnessing two campaigns - and till the twain meet, we will neither have a consensus on national security nor on the road ahead in terms of welfare and economy.

Manohar Nunna, Kodad