This was a hard-fought battle for all the political parties. During last three months parties did everything to win the election, All types of tricks n tutka, strategy n style were used, money was spent like water and at times canvassing was like a do-or-die situation
At the end of all this, the result came and BJP Won 240 but was still considered as a loser.
While Congress won less than 100 still became a star performer.
A few Money lessons we can learn from this interesting election are:
1. Never take yourself for granted (Falling BJP Tally)
Even if you are the best, keep on improving. In investment also don’t assume that once the investment is done then it is going to be the best performer. We need to keep on improving our skills as well as review the portfolio regularly to get the best out of it.
2. Learn from the failure Keep on trying and never give up (Congress Performance)
In the previous two elections, the performance of Congress was very poor, but they didn’t give up and kept on trying (Bharat Jodo yatra, Nyaya yatra, etc). And this time they got almost 100% more seats than their previous tally. So even if we fail sometimes, we should try to find mistakes, have patience, and never give up to get better results.
3. There will always be factors beyond our control (Ayodhya: cast, religion etc.)
Whether election or market, many factors are not in our control but have a very critical role in the outcome. So, no matter how hard we try, we cannot change certain things and have to accept it gracefully. Similarly, in investment factors like the Economy, geopolitics, inflation etc. are beyond our control and have to accept their impact.
4. Regardless of credibility, name & fame we can be defeated by seemingly unknown forces (Amethi)
Amethi showed it twice, first Rahul Gandhi and this time Smriti Irani. It teaches us that even if we invest in the best of the companies or asset class sometimes it may not give us a desired result. However, it does not mean to give up (Smriti Irani lost in 2014 before winning in 2019) but be ready to accept the poor performance from the best investments (companies) also.
5. If you are fighting a tough fight, collaborate with people (N.D.A Vs I.N.D.I.A.)
UP, Maharashtra are living example of the good results from I.N.D.I.A., similarly, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh is for NDA, and they did it by finding right alliance partners. Similarly, in investments also even the best assets do not give the highest returns all the time and hence we need to do asset allocation. There are complimentary forces/assets, which if combined smartly can give better than a single party/asset results.
6. We can get 100% strike rate if play smartly (LJP in Bihar, Janasena Party in Andhra Pradesh)
Chirag Paswan’s LJP in Bihar won all the five Lok Sabha seats it contested. Similarly, Janasena Party chief and actor Pawan Kalyan has scripted history after his party won all 21 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats it contested with 100 per cent strike rate. That shows if we concentrate our strength and focus on a few places we can get better results rather than trying everywhere. Focussed investment with limited diversification can give better results than over-diversification.
7. Time Changes so our strategy should also change (use of technology and social media)
We need to be flexible, and ready to change our strategy as per the time and situation. We saw leaders changing strategies, using social media and modern artificial intelligence-based technologies etc during the elections. They delivered their speeches based on the local inputs, location and audience etc. Similarly for investments also we need to look at latest options and change the strategies based on time, goals, economic situations etc.
Whether elections or investments we should be ready for uncertainties and surprises, but rather than getting depressed from it, we should learn from the mistakes and try to do better next time. Taking the assistance of experts always helps to improve our performance and we should use it for our benefit.