T.N. Tiwari, 72, a veteran political journalist from Ayodhya, believes this election could witness a repeat of 1977.

Aligarh resident Jaiwardhan Singh, 35, a company manager turned farmer, feels the level of popular discontent with the government has reached 2004 levels.

A political science lecturer in Faizabad and a hotelier in Ayodhya see this election as a battle between the BJP and the “people” themselves.

The low turnouts of the first two phases that have left the BJP leadership nervous seem to have raised hopes of a change of guard among many people from different walks of life as the country gears for the third round of voting on Tuesday.

“People had thought the Narendra Modi government would work to provide them with their basic needs but that didn’t happen. Obviously, they are not excited about another term for this government,” Tiwari told The Telegraph.

The Ayodhya hotelier, who requested anonymity, said: “It’s not (just) the Opposition but a section of the people are contesting against the government because they are counting its empty promises.”

Tiwari said many factors could go against Modi. “His attitude is authoritarian and the people are noticing it now. It’s more apparent in his speeches now than before. Many see his talk of crossing 400 seats as arrogance. Even his supporters dislike his overconfidence,” he said.

“Indira Gandhi had the same attitude when she lost to the Janata Party in 1977. Many weak Opposition candidates defeated the Congress nominees. For example, Mangal Dev Visharad, Janata candidate from Ambedkar Nagar, had no money and no intention to contest. I borrowed Rs 500 from someone and gave it to him. He defeated Ramji Ram, who won the previous two elections on Republican Party of India and Congress tickets.”

Jaiwardhan had told this newspaper a fortnight ago: “Nobody had thought that Pramod Mahajan’s ‘India Shining’ campaign in 2004 would fail but it did. Eknath Gaikwad of the Congress, who campaigned in an old jeep and wore torn sneakers, defeated the BJP stalwart, Manohar Joshi, from Mumbai North Central. It happens when there is deep popular discontent.”

Jaiwardhan worked as a manager with a company in Mumbai till 2017 but returned to Aligarh to look after his 40 acres of farmland when a wave of retrenchments began across private firms.

“I looked for a job after the pandemic but found that salaries had been reduced and decided to stay back. The government had a duty to check salary cuts even in private firms, and to generate new jobs. But the Modi government doesn’t believe in providing employment,” he said.

A lecturer of political science at Awadh University, Faizabad, said the “cacophony” created by the BJP was preventing many people from realising how unpopular the party had become.

“Savarkar wrote in his book, Hindu Rashtra Darshan, that he had asked his supporters at the 21st Hindu Mahasabha session in Calcutta in December 1939 why a large section of English-educated Hindus held back from joining his organisation,” the lecturer said.

“Savarkar himself had studied in London and so, I understand, he was talking about those with modern education. The situation hasn’t changed much for the BJP today. It was initially able to create the illusion of development while actually polarising the country by attacking Muslims and Pakistan, but it lacked the wisdom to focus on genuine issues. This is why its graph is falling so fast.

“The Congress won elections from 1952 to 1971 because it had really educated people to plan and act on its political programmes. I believe that whoever is voting for a non-BJP candidate this election is actually more inclined to vote against the BJP than in favour of another party.”

An advocate in Agra, who asked not to be quoted, said: “We need to vote like a bulldozer (en masse) this time against the BJP to save the country and the Constitution. Ten years is a long time for a government to prove its worth. The BJP was harping on religion in 2014 and is doing the same in 2024. Of course, I don’t know what the result will be. The BJP is the only party with money to spend in this election.”