BJP Mps Barely Raise Issues From Election Manifestos In Lok Sabha. Congress Even Less

BJP and Congress Struggle to Align Promises with Parliamentary Actions

The recent assessment of the BJP’s performance in the 16th Lok Sabha reveals a troubling alignment score of just 0.24. This figure indicates that while there is some overlap between the party's manifesto and the language used in parliamentary questions, it is a mere quarter of their overall vocabulary. The majority of terms in the manifesto, such as development and education, do appear in parliamentary discourse, but many key phrases like civilisational or harmonious are noticeably absent. Instead, members of Parliament tend to focus on administrative terms like scheme and fund, reflecting their responsibility to address specific constituency issues.

Interestingly, the alignment score for the BJP took a sharp dip in the 17th Lok Sabha, plummeting to 0.171, its lowest recorded score, before rebounding to 0.262 in the 18th Lok Sabha. This fluctuation suggests an inconsistency in how closely MPs adhered to the party’s promises. Notably, during the tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha, the introduction of significant schemes like Ayushman Bharat and PM-KISAN failed to generate the expected surge in parliamentary questions, with alignment actually decreasing instead.

“The gap between the manifesto and parliamentary questions is partly just the gap between politics and governance,”

a researcher noted, highlighting the fundamental differences in language and intent between campaign documents and legislative inquiries. While manifestos are crafted to resonate with voters, parliamentary questions typically reflect immediate local concerns. This discrepancy points to a larger issue: the BJP’s ideological aspirations often seem disconnected from the pragmatic realities of governance.

Congress, while struggling with its own alignment scores, shows a different trend. The party's score rose from 0.154 in the 16th Lok Sabha to 0.178 in the 17th, reflecting its role as an opposition party using questions to hold the ruling government accountable rather than to advance its own agenda. The INC’s alignment continued to improve in the 18th Lok Sabha as the party regained strength, suggesting a potential shift toward a more coherent legislative strategy.

The analysis emphasizes that while the gap between the language of promises and the language of accountability in Parliament is evident, it does not necessarily indicate failure to deliver on those promises. Many actions may occur outside the realm of parliamentary questions through executive decisions and budget allocations. What remains clear is that the disconnect between aspirational rhetoric and practical governance persists, particularly for the BJP during a time of significant welfare promises.