Third Eye: Embarrassment For BJP, the curse of 5 Deshratna Marg, hard work behind the scenes

In spite of the odds being in favour of Sunetra Pawar during Lok Sabha polls, she still lost the elections against Supriya Sule. While Ajit supporters accused BJP leaders of not doing enough to help Sunetra win, Ajit had them calm down to prevent relations with the BJP going in a tailspin. However, BJP leader Harshvardhan Patil, who recently joined the NCP-SP camp, publicly said that he and his supporters while still being in the BJP had helped Sule get more votes. The development has left the BJP embarrassed, but Ajit has not yet reacted.

Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary recently shifted to 5 Deshratna Marg, bungalow in Patna. The bungalow was previously with Tejashwi Yadav. In the political circle of Bihar, the bungalow is seen as a curse. In the last 10 years, there were four deputy CMs — Sushil Kumar Modi, Tarkishor Prasad and Tejaswhi — who stayed here and no one completed their full term. Tejashwi Yadav stayed twice as a deputy CM, in 2015 and 2022. When asked about it, Choudhary while taking a dig at Tejashwi said it is not the bungalow but the people who are disputed.

During the surprise BJP win in Haryana, the role of some leaders who worked behind the scenes, did not get due attention. Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was election in-charge of the state, ran an onground campaign by working on the feedback from the grassroots workers and then improvised accordingly. While the BJP rallies focused on big issues, Pradhan looked at the grievances of small farmers and the deprived sections. After PM Modi’s October 1 rally, Pradhan avoided any big programmes, freeing the party rank and file to spend the next three days before polling on reaching out to voters.