Why take a chance with new policies?

"If India's 2014 general election was a vote for hope, then 2019 appears to be more about fear," wrote S Dhume. "So far, neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor Rahul Gandhi's Congress Party has come up with a compelling reason for people to support them. But both the ruling party and the opposition can pint a vivid picture of why the prospect of their opponent winning should be viewed as a nightmare." Attacks on minorities and lynching of suspected cow smugglers have not resulted in strong action against perpetrators. The BJP won an absolute majority with 282 seats in 2014 so Modi could have boldly reformed the economy. "Instead he has used his megaphone to talk up relatively modest achievements, or to package harebrained ideas like demonetisation as bold reform." "The 'tax terrorism' that BJP once denounced has only increased after the government armed officials with draconian new powers last year." Foreign policy has been reduced to serial hugging. Despite hugs, Donald Trump has levied higher tariffs on Indian exports to the US, following which India has increased tariffs on goods imported from the US. The US has gone back to appeasing Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, at the cost of India. India risks further US sanctions by opting to buy the S-400 Triumf air defence missile system from Russia. If the BJP has failed to give us a reason to vote for it, the Congress is no better. "For a large chunk of educated Indians, Rahul Gandhi remains the foremost symbol of everything that's wrong with dynastic politics. It seems plain as day that several other Congress leaders have more political talent in one finger than Gandhi has managed to muster in more than a decade in public life." True, but most of these leaders are seen as corrupt while Gandhi is clean. Modi also has a reputation for being clean but has chosen criminals as candidates in elections. The BJP, under Modi, has the highest number of elected representatives with history of crimes against women. Like Modi, Gandhi is single and has no children to follow him. But the main reason why the Congress has no choice other than the family, is that other leaders are known only in their own states, whereas the Gandhi name is recognized throughout India. The reason why they have resorted to abusing each other is because there is very little difference between the BJP and Congress, with Modi following the same policies of distributing handouts with taxpayer money, like the Congress did. "Indira was not Hitler, Modi is not Aurangzeb," wrote SA Aiyer. Maybe not, but they are equally destructive for India. History, as they say...