Bangalore: A milestone in BJP's journey
The BJP’s victory is certain to galvanise the party ahead of crucial assembly polls, billed as the semi-finals before next year’s general election, and will also help the leadership in packaging the NDA as a formidable political alliance.
By Devesh Kumar, TNN |
The BJP���s triumph in Karnataka is well and truly a historic event. Besides helping it erase its cow-belt party image, the first-ever clear-cut victory notched by it in a southern state is certain to have a far-reaching impact on the national polity.
The win places the party in a position to beat the anti-incumbency in the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it has been in power for the past four-and-a-half years; wrest power in Delhi from the Congress and improve its performance in Jammu & Kashmir, where the Congress is in power in alliance with the PDP.
The electoral outcome in Karnataka is certain to add a buoyancy to the BJP as it sets about the task of reclaiming power at the Centre. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who was among the most powerful campaigners for the party in the state, hailed the victory. ���For the BJP, it���s the gateway to the south and the highway to New Delhi,��� he summed up the mood.
The party, which had been inflicted with self-doubts after its shocking defeat in the Lok Sabha polls held four years ago, has been gradually regaining its confidence. After going through the ignominy of seeing their party suffer a string of electoral debacles, the cadre had become completely demoralised, and had started nursing doubts about the ability of their leadership to deliver in crunch situations.
To that extent, the victory in Karnataka, and before that in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, is certain to enthuse the cadre.
More importantly, the string of electoral successes is likely to help the BJP leadership position the party as a powerful player in the national arena, and project the NDA as an attractive political platform for prospective alliance partners.
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As the party regains its winning habits, it���s certain to find it easier to find new friends in states where it���s relatively weak or has no toehold at all. The Karnataka victory will also have a sobering effect on allies such Nitish Kumar and Parkash Singh Badal, who���ll now have to deal with a more muscular BJP. It���d, however, be foolhardy to assume that the party has managed to iron out the wrinkles in its fold completely. Despite pocketing several states, the party leadership still has to get its act together. On several issues, it has been seen to be completely out of sorts.
Its stewardship has left a lot to be desired, and there is a nagging belief that if the party has managed to do well in the electoral battles fought across the country in the past two years, it has more to do with the internal weaknesses and the feeble reflexes of its principal political rival, the Congress. In recent times, the BJP leadership has, most political observers agree, suffered a steep erosion in its moral authority.
The decline in the leadership���s clout has been accompanied by the rise of powerful satraps in several states who, over the years, have managed to develop their own distinctive identities. It wouldn���t be wrong to say that the BJP today is an aggregate of several formidable state players, who, to a great extent, have begun to run their state units independent of their central leadership. Thus, if Mr Modi lords over Gujarat, BS Yeddyurappa is the undisputed leader in Karnataka.
Vasundhara Raje has complete sway over the party���s working in Rajasthan, while P K Dhumal���s writ runs large over Himachal Pradesh. Post-Kalyan Singh, the BJP is yet to identify such a mascot in Uttar Pradesh, the politically crucial state which sends as many as 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. With its support-base in the state suffering a steep decline, the party is now jostling with the Congress for the third position.
While the Brahmins, who formed the party���s backbone, switching their allegiance to the BSP, and the Thakurs and non-Yadav OBCs looking for alternative platforms, the saffron outfit has been left staring at a washout.
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In Jharkhand, the party has simply not been able to revive its act despite the presence of ���rickety, corrupt��� alliance comprising the JMM, RJD and a bunch of independents backed by the Congress. And in Bihar, the party is in the throes of a severe infighting.Against this backdrop, the BJP leadership has its task cut out. While it will have to finalise strategies to overcome the incumbency blues in the coming electoral battles in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and MP, dubbed as the semifinals before the big fight next year, it will also have to shore up its alliances in states such as Tamil Nadu, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Getting back to winning ways in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand should also figure on top of its priority list.
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