NEW DELHI: Even as the Opposition believes there is a 2004-like chance of beating the BJP at the hustings, the saffron outfit is upbeat on the back of massive mobilisation of party workers on the ground in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The stark difference in the mood of the saffron foot soldiers during 2004 and 2019 polls is being seen as a potent force to cancel out any anti-incumbency factors that may exist on the ground.
BJP leaders attribute the current situation on the ground to the changed stance of the leadership of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) and party workers.
Former RSS chief KS Sudarshan, unlike incumbent Mohan Bhagwat, had failed to rein in discordant voices within numerous wings of the saffron family against the Vajpayee government, during his tenure. However, the BJP being out of power for a decade since Vajpayee’s ouster forced a reality check within the RSS.
“The RSS during Vajpayee (as Prime Minister) was very critical of the government and his policies, Vajpayee’s moderate stand on important issues such as Ram Mandir had frustrated the organisation. This impatience (within RSS) led to immense confusion, with the RSS often criticising the (NDA) government and Vajpayee personally. After Vajpayee lost (elections), the RSS was back at the receiving end of a very hostile government,” Sumeet Bhasin, a senior BJP leader, has noted in his book ‘The New Age Karyakarta’.
BJP chief Amit Shah’s regular meetings with the RSS chief during the course of five years of the Modi government is seen within the party to have helped the two organizations frame common agenda to work with the aim of beating anti-incumbency against the government and the incumbent MPs.
“There is indeed a strong anti-incumbency against a large number of MPs, who have been re-nominated in the ongoing general elections. Yet, an equally well-heeled strength of the BJP workers is out, establishing contacts with the electorate- almost on a daily basis,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Vajpayee had earned the ire of various RSS affiliates for a strong reform push, including opening up of a number of sectors for foreign direct investment (FDI), disinvestment of public sector firms, labour reforms, even while maintaining distance from the core agenda of its saffron mentor.