Very good advice ...

... to the BJP from Pradeep Ravikumar of 7 x 6:

How do you get the support of this large section of "unwashed masses" (I do not refer to education/wealth here, merely to economic literacy) by following counter-intuitive yet sound economic policies?

And thus we come to the topic of what motivates people. The post till now has talked about one prime motivator: material prosperity. But what the post has said is that a sound economic policy would actually make people protest against it due to short term losses or economic illiteracy. So, we need something else to rally people behind the political party. This something could be,
a. religion
b. nationalism
or even better, a heady cocktail of both.

So, a party that wants to pursue sound economic policies should pander to and generate-froth-in-the-mouth-of the majority religion; as well as cater to jingiostic nationalism. The economically literate would turn a blindish eye to its religious/nationalistic rhetoric, while the religious/nationalistically swayed unwashed masses would turn a blind eye to some inconveniences caused by its economic policies, at least in the short term.

With reference to India; all those largely middle-class people who say that the BJP has to become more moderate in order to gain power; are sadly applying their colored middle-class lenses to the situation.

The BJP shall have to increase its Hindutva rhetoric, strengthen its ties with RSS and VHP; and under the ensuing adulatory cover from the BIMARU belt, pursue the economic policies that it must. Alongside sound economic policies, short-term-gain measures like cutting taxes can also be used to buy the loyalty from the armchair middle-class crowd.