Serious rethink needed in BJP: Ram Madhav

oters rejecting the high-pitched BJP campaign crafted by party president Amit Shah.”

Former home secretary and Arrah MP R K Singh repeated his criticism of seat selection and said, “There should be introspection. It is not a question of thinking but a fact. Go and check up. People who were charge-sheeted for crimes like dacoity were given tickets. That is not something which I expected from my party.” Party rebel Shatrughan Sinha promptly congratulated the grand alliance, saying that the issue of ‘Bihari versus Bahari’ had been settled.


Why Bihar rejected Modi-Shah and embraced Nitish

Within the party, any criticism of Shah is not expected to grow beyond a point though voices against the leadership are bound to be raised in closed door meetings, if not in the open. The point of contention, as articulated by some seniors, is that decisions are taken "unilaterally" with the new team around Shah directly involved. BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told the media, “Shah will get a new term later this year as the organizational polls are close to finish." That did not really seem in doubt, but the going may not be easy in terms of organizational challenges ahead.

While a combative opposition will look to pin down the BJP-led government in Parliament on the raging issue of “growing intolerance" that has seen an unprecedented move by intellectuals, film personalities and scientists to return their awards, the Centre will find it increasingly difficult to pass crucial bills like GST or any other legislative agenda.

Of the five states that go to polls, BJP is seen as a serious contender in Assam and can hope to make some gains in Kerala if the recent local election results in some urban areas are an indication. It has attracted notice in West Bengal, but electoral success remains elusive and it is a small player in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In all these states, the aura of a winner would have helped.

BJP must deal with invigorated regional parties who can team up on certain issues and stall Parliament. In Rajya Sabha, BJP needs to cut deals with Congress. TMC, Left, SP, RJD, JD(U) and others.

BJP's allies like Shiv Sena remain restive, happy to take sustenance from the senior partner’s discomfiture. Sena took a swipe at Modi, saying the Bihar election results “denotes decline of the leader”.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who had supported the grand alliance, congratulated Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad and termed it a “victory of tolerance, defeat of intolerance”. She has already indicated that the opposition net is set to expand.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also congratulated Nitish on his "historic victory". Earlier, he had said it was important that the BJP lose in Bihar so that it realizes that "hate politics" will not work in the country. He has already initiated a platform of non-Congress, non-BJP CMs of which Kumar is a part.