Saturday, January 5, 2013

PARTY TROUBLES: BJP

Sharad Gupta investigates what led to the failure of BJP and what is stopping it from being a success

The BJP won 19 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka and 10 out of 11 seats in Chhatisgarh. It along with its ally JD (U) won 32 out of 40 seats at stake in Bihar. What was special about BJP’s strategy in these states? “All these states are ruled by the BJP and people voted for good governance. Likewise, people voted for Congress’s state government’s good work in Delhi, Haryana, AP et al,” says UP BJP leader Kalraj Mishra.

BJP may not practice caste politics in states like U.P. and Bihar but the caste factor helped it win many seats in Karnataka. Lingayats are the dominant community in central and north Karnataka and Chief Minister B. S. Yaddyurappa is the most popular leader of the community. BJP in Karnataka has become more a regional party headed by Yaddyurappa than a party controlled from its Delhi headquarter or the Nagpur-based RSS bosses. Yaddyurappa was given a free hand in selecting the candidates.

In contrast, Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh riding on his popular scheme to provide rice at Rs. 3 per kg, ensured that the party organisation and the RSS were kept in good humour. He not only heard out the most grassroot of RSS workers but has also appointed them in his government. “We haven’t forgotten that workers are backbone of the party. This is why in Chhattisgarh, at least 10 workers were active at every pooling booth”, says party’s Raipur chief Rajiv Agarwal. Singh has rewarded RSS pracharks, Saudan Singh and Ram Pratap Singh – both state BJP organising secretaries – by nominating them to the Rajya Sabha.

But in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the first two are ruled by the BJP and the third was lost to Congress by a narrow margin in the Assembly polls. Gujarat results were more baffling because Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity was on an all-time high and unlike Assembly elections, there was no rebellion from within the ranks of the party and the RSS.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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