Indian Politics & Policy Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2020 | Page 41

Do Issues Matter in Indian Elections?
Table 2: Top Four Issues in Elections, 2009, 2014, and 2019 in Percentages
Most Important Issues, 2019 Most Important Issues, 2014
Important Problem of Voters
Government Must Solve, 2009
1 Development (15) Price Increase (20) Drinking Water (17)
2 Un/Employment (11) Corruption (12) Unemployment (14)
3 Price Rise (4) Development (10) Price Increases (9)
4 Corruption (3) Un/Employment (8) Electricity (7)
Source: Authors’ Calculation based on Lokniti-CSDS, NES (2009, 2014, 2019).
For 2019, n=24034, 2014, n=22295, 2009, n=7347.
by making it an election issue. In 2019,
although price increase and corruption
were among the top four election issues,
less than 4 percent of the voters considered
them to be their most important
election issue.
We have further evidence from
NES about the respondents’ beliefs
about the party they thought raised
the issues that mattered to the voters
in 2014. The BJP tops the list, with 25
percent support from respondents, followed
by Congress at 15 percent (for
the 2019 general election, this question
was not included).
Election Issues and Party Manifesto
Electoral issues mentioned in party
manifestos or during election campaigns
by incumbent government or
opposition parties are of much importance
as they decide the priorities
of political parties when one (on its
own or in coalition with other parties)
comes to power. Whether a party (or
parties) follows the promises made in
the elections or not depends on several
grounds, including intentions,
ideology, pressure from international
financial institutions and homegrown
industries, and political constraints
arising due to forming a coalition. For
instance, in his speech after becoming
the Chief Minister of Delhi for the second
time on February 14, 2015, Arvind
Kejriwal mentioned people are looking
to see that the government intends to
fulfill the promises made. 25 It has also
been mapped that Kejriwal was able
to bring “commonplace issues,” such
as corruption and governance, to the
forefront and make them national issues
in a state election, instead of taking
advantage of social cleavages, or
noting other state-level issues, as is the
trend with political newcomers. 26 To
understand the priorities and issues
raised during elections by two dominant
political parties in 2014 and 2019,
we analyze in Table 3 their manifestos
and the issues mentioned there.
The issues presented here in order
of appearance in the manifestos that
might reflect the hierarchy/priority of
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