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| Upside down: BJP’s posturing finds no takers | | |
Sunita Vakil
The BJP’s dismal performance in the recent Assembly elections gave out a loud and clear message : The party can improve its position only if it comes up with concrete ideas which focus on development and good governance instead of resorting to petty politics. Of late, the party has been making most of the noise but albeit with convoluted consequences. Indeed, the Jubilant saffron party regarded itself as a frontrunner in the coming general polls with the win over last year’s municipal elections acting as a morale booster. But the poll results put paid to its earlier hopes indicating that the party’s euphoria was totally misplaced. Ever since Congress-led UPA government ceded power in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab in the last two years, BJP leadership was convinced that the party was on a comeback trail. There was an almost smug belief that anti-incumbency against the Congress would automatically bring the BJP-led NDA back to power. But its shameful rout in Delhi as well as failure to beat incumbency in Rajastan has left the party bosses worrying over the prospects of the general elections. Over confident senior members who had been boasting of a clean sweep in all the four states failed to read the writing on the wall. This cost the NDA dearly. The loss was all the more stunning since the poll managers had used every trick in their basket to ensure to impact the electorate. The bottom-line is that with nothing new and original to offer to the voters the BJP failed to project itself as a more responsible party of government.
The Congress victory in three states has sent out a clear message that petty politics and anti-incumbency tactics do not help in baiting voters. Though terrorism topped BJP’s campaign agenda, the results show that people have concentrated largely on burning issues facing the country. Doubtlessly, it is a clear verdict for good governance and development. Indeed, those who worked hard to resolve local issues have been rewarded. On the other hand, candidates who depended on gimmicks and divisive politics could not impress the voters. There is a message in all five poll results – that local issues like prices, development and livelihood concerns find more rapport with the common man than vague nationalist issues. For instance, the Congress’ third consecutive win in Delhi and BJP’s victories in MP and Chattisgarh are the cases in point. Clearly, the electorate has rejected exploitation of emotive issues in bringing in votes. It is evident that the BJP’s harping on Congress-led UPA government’s long list of failures carries no conviction more importantly with the voters. More these are importantly not reflective of the core concerns of the party’s core supporters. While the principal opposition party is still trying to fathom reasons for the debacle, there is also a need to rejuvenate the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Many blame the party’s inability to project a charismatic leader as its chief ministerial candidate while others hold its performance for terror and inflation over local issues like bijli, paani and sadak responsible for failing to trump Congress. All of them may have a point. But is the BJP willing to introspect seriously? Indeed, after NDA lost power in 2004 in the wake of general elections, it almost crumbled following its shocking defeat. Then it suffered further demoralization after its humiliating rout in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in May 2004. Since then the party has been on the lookout for alternative strategies to reverse its electoral fortunes. But it seems that even after four years of drift, division and confusion, the BJP does not seem to get its act together. Instead, its leaders have pre-occupied themselves with raking up emotive issues that no longer find any resonance among the people. As things stand today, the NDA government has not been able to decisively reverse this trend; notwithstanding the boastings of its leaders that the party was just a step away from capturing Delhi. That is why the BJP has once again been left licking its wounds and forced to swallow its own words. It needs no reiteration that the NDA has become fragmented down the years due to the faulty policies pursued by the BJP. As a result, a party that had 24 partners when in power is now left only with 4 allies.
The BJP leadership, while enumerating several reasons for the debacle in recent polls did not highlight the main one – its exertions in cashing in on the Mumbai attacks with grim advertisements and hoardings as a major campaign plank. Its erroneous assumption that exploiting terrorism would automatically benefit the party giving their campaign a cutting edge did not go down well with the voters. This despite the fact that NDA’s own track record was not very flattering. It would be in order to recall that the attack on Parliament, the shameful Kandahar episode besides a host of attacks on temples happened during the time the opposition was in power. Realistically speaking, the BJP’s calculations of making terrorism an election issue misfired badly, especially in Delhi and Rajasthan. For instance, Mr Shivraj Chauhan who almost entirely focused on a development won comfortably in Madhya Pradesh. Also, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate staying away from the PM’s all party meetings also turned counter-productive, especially at a time when there was a need to show solidarity on an issue of national importance. This misreading of political trends proved to be a fatal error for the party. Inarguably, BJP’s
BJP’s posturings find no takers
mistakes like these helped the Congress sweep the polls.
Then there is also the problem of factionalism and infighting within the party that keeps on showing every now and then. It is an open secret that the BJP through its string of defeats has all along been a divided house. The party seems to be in the throes of a severe internal crisis with its leaders talking in different voices. It is therefore not surprising the beneath the veneer of unity, groupism rules the roost. Also, with no clear focus on electoral strategy, the party is akin to a motely group of contradicting individuals who are forever suspicious of each other. With the divided result having brought the leadership issue to the forefront, the party presents a picture of total internal chaos. This is definitely going to take a toll on its performance in the Lok Sabha polls impacting it negatively. It is time the BJP asks itself where it is going. For, if it wants to stage a comeback in 2009, then it
to let go of the hands off approach. What is seriously needed is a unified command structure. It goes without saying that the party continues to pay a price for its in-house rifts. Besides, infighting has diluted the party’s credibility on national issues in the recent polls. In fact, the murmurs of dissent which are growing louder after the poll set back have brought the embedded factionalism under scrutiny. Mr Murali Manohar Joshi’s comments regarding the running of the campaign in the two states smack of pure rivalry for Mr Advani’s projection as PM in waiting.
Since the BJP’s ploy of using terrorism to extend its ideological and electoral reach has come a cropper, it needs to set up and redraw its strategy for Lok Sabha elections. Now its leaders cannot take people for granted. The road ahead may not be smooth. But it is crucial for the party to harp on people’s issues rather than indulging in semantics. It is also essential for its leaders to be seen united and work purposely for staging a comeback. Moreover, it is no sufficient to talk of victory as Mr Rajnath Singh has been doing by boasting that regional parties would automatically be tempted to ally with BJP. Though the picture looks somewhat gloomy for the principal opposition party, yet there are many who believe it will emerge stronger from the current crisis. The real test lies in the form of coming general elections and this is the time for BJP to rise up to the challenge. The Assembly elections should serve only as a wake-up call to clear the road blocks to victory in 2009.
Since exploitation of emotive issues failed to cut ice with voters, the party needs to rethink strategy for Lok Sabha polls.
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