HYDERABAD: The BJP is approaching the upcoming General Elections with twin objectives — the party aims to win at least eight to 10 seats and emerge as the main rival to the ruling Congress in the state by relegating the BRS, which recently lost power, to political obscurity.
The saffron party expects the main contest in the coming Lok Sabha elections to be between it and the Congress. It also expects to further improve its vote share, with voters who traditionally backed the BRS turning their loyalty to the BJP. As part of the strategy to strengthen itself, the BJP is welcoming leaders, especially sitting MPs, from the BRS into its fold.
The lotus camp, if its leaders are to be believed, is set to welcome three more sitting MPs from the BRS who plan to don saffron in the hope of getting tickets to contest the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The party is also adapting its strategies on the outcome of various internal surveys as well as leveraging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image to increase its vote share.
Currently having four MPs from the state, the BJP aspires to more than double this tally in the coming elections. The party has a reason for its optimism — its vote has been steadily climbing over successive elections.
The BJP secured a 10% vote share in the 2014 General Elections and doubled this to 20% in 2019. Similarly, the party maintained a consistent 7% vote share in 2014 (in alliance with the TD) and 2018 Assembly elections (on its own). The recent Assembly elections, however, provided a significant boost to the BJP when it got approximately 14% of the vote share.
The party performed well in rural areas like Adilabad, Sirpur, Nirmal, Mudhole, Kamareddy and Armoor, as well as the Nizamabad Urban constituency. Buoyed by these results, BJP national leaders are optimistic that the coming Lok Sabha elections will mirror the success of the recent Assembly polls, fueled in part by the inauguration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.
Interestingly, the BJP is streamlining its decision-making processes, sidelining state leaders to maximise its chances of securing a bigger number of Lok Sabha seats.
The party’s ideological focus centres on strengthening itself while diminishing the influence of the BRS.
Also, there is a concerted effort to appeal to SC, ST and Backward communities, with the party expecting support from the SCs after Modi expressed his commitment to sub-categorisation during a public meeting in Hyderabad last year.