In the last Lok Sabha elections held in 2014, the BJP was able to win 51.9% of seats based on a vote share of 31.3%. In a first-past-the-post system, there is no guarantee that the BJP will be able to maintain the same vote-share-to-seat-share conversion rate in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party had a vote share of 39.5% and 36.4% respectively. Simply retaining the 2014 vote share in 2019 would not make the BJP invincible. Any successful campaign and coalition-building exercise against the BJP in 2019 or beyond would require a powerful narrative, and sharper strategizing than that of the BJP.

Source: Mint August 10, 2017 02:15 UTC