NEW DELHI: After a brief low phase following the not-so-encouraging by-election results, the swagger is back within the BJP. With the exit polls predicting a comfortable win for the saffron party in the Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana, BJP is looking at the emerging trend with elation.
The party is fast replacing Congress as the first party engaged in direct contest with the regional parties in the bipolar polity that is becoming a norm in the country. If exit polls are any indicator of results to be declared on Sunday, BJP would emerge as the main party, followed by another non-Congress entity–Chautalas’ INLD in Haryana, and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
This bipolarity is helping the BJP. It is pushing for a similar contest in Jharkhand and Bihar where elections are likely to take place in the next few months.
“BJP is in direct contest with the regional parties in several states. The Congress is not in the reckoning. Bipolarity is being witnessed across almost all the states. The election results for Maharashtra and Haryana will show the new trend,” a senior BJP leader said.
“Earlier, Congress was the main party, while everyone else including the BJP and the regional parties were in the contest. Now, it’s BJP versus the rest,” the leader added.
There is bipolar polity in almost all the states. Be it Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, BJP and Congress are the two leading parties. On the other hand, in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir, the regional parties are engaged in a direct contest.
According to the sources, another emerging trend is that the regional parties are feeling the heat of BJP’s resurgence. “With the BJP likely to win the maximum number of seats, there will be pressure on Shiv Sena and NCP. Many of the party leaders would be under pressure to breakaway and join the BJP,” a senior Sangh leader working in Maharashtra said.
The election results of Maharashtra and Haryana are likely to kick off changes in the party and the government. However, BJP chief Amit Shah would maintain the continuity in the organisation without making changes. “He may depute a few more people to vacant posts, but will not change anyone,” a top BJP leader said. The expansion in the party is likely to coincide with the expansion in the Narendra Modi cabinet. Some leaders will be rewarded for their work as the work of the government expands and needs more hands,” a senior party leader added.
While, the focus for the next few days will remain on government formation in Maharashtra and Haryana, the BJP would shift its focus to Jharkhand where elections will take place in January. The party has already deputed petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupinder Yadav in the state.
BJP may follow the same strategy—of going solo in Jharkhand to emerge as the key player by taking on the Hemant Soren government. Shah’s micro-management skills will again come handy.