Tuesday, February 11, 2025
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Confused saffron

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When assembly elections in a set of states are approaching and the campaign having started in Jammu Kashmir and Haryana, the BJP seems to be unsure of its steps on the electioneering front. At the high point of the campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself would be missing, as he has lined up a visit to the United States. An alliance between the Congress and the National Conference of the Abdullahs in Jammu Kashmir is causing some jitters in the BJP camp there. Haryana, which was a gone case in the last assembly polls itself, raises fresh question marks on the BJP this time. It had managed to retain power there by allying with a new political entity in 2019, as the party’s government headed by Manoharlal Khattar failed to impress the people. Even in this poll, the BJP is accused of seeking to whip up passions on religious issues, as is its wont, to win the polls there. Cow vigilantes there have killed two innocent persons, one on the alleged ground that he consumed beef, and the other for similar reasons. The second however happened to be a Hindu Brahmin, who was mistaken to be Muslim. In Maharashtra, the BJP is not sure of retaining power along with its ally, the rebel Shiv Sena; a reason why the EC is allegedly being pressurised by the Centre to hold back the announcement of the poll date. Even in the last assembly polls, the BJP failed to retain power there as the ally Shiv Sena ditched it.
Overall, the mood is dispirited within the BJP ranks. For years, Modi has been the party’s mascot. With a perceived fall in his popular support as was also evident in the last parliament polls even in Varanasi, the BJP is not exactly crest-fallen, but confused. The party had failed to build an organisational bulwark for it in the last ten years of dominance of the political spectrum while, alternatively, it relied almost fully on the charisma of Modi. A ‘silent’ Amit Shah in the last five years after his tough performance as party chief, and a new president in the form of JP Nadda who failed to build a stature for himself and an organizational heft for the party, have brought the BJP to its present plight. The RSS, the ideological mentor for the BJP, is mindful of this drift and keen on remedial steps if only to ensure retention of power for the Hindutva enterprise. Its Palakkad conclave might have taken decisions on a way forward in this respect, but this is shrouded in secrecy. Instead, it is beating around the bush to divert attention from the core issues of the day.

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