Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to create a 'second base' for itself and shed its 'North Indian party' label with its fervent attempts to diversify into South India, election strategist Prashant Kishor said at an event organized by The New Indian Express in Hyderabad.
He said BJP wants to diversify from the Hindi belt into other regions, and the best candidate is the South.
"They have been winning in Karnataka for 15-20 years, still you are calling them a 'north' party... Forget about seats and all. They have enough seats, but they want to expand and be, in a true sense, a party with footprints across India."
He pointed out that until recently, Tamil Nadu was the state most frequently visited by PM Narendra Modi after Gujarat. "Because of the recent visits to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu has gone to No.2," he pointed out.
He said BJP has "strategic, psychological, and political" motivations for trying to spread its base in Tamil Nadu, even though these efforts are only yielding 1% or 2% of incremental vote share.
"Why is BJP investing so much into Tamil Nadu? It's not because there's a blank [space] or there has been a collapse of DMK or AIADMK. It's simply because, like you cannot dominate the politics of the North without winning UP and Bihar, you cannot dominate the politics of the South unless you are a major force in Telugu states and Tamil Nadu.
"This is because, in the minds of people, the nerve center of the South is Tamil Nadu -- the notion of Madras, that everything was part of Madras Presidency, going up to parts of Odisha. So, from that point of view, "
Kishor also pointed out that the BJP is at present very vulnerable to any kind of anti-incumbency or disaffection related wave in the Hindi belt.
A second base in another part of the country would give them 'cover' from such an eventuality, he pointed out.
"Sooner or later, someone will defeat them in Bihar and UP, so they want a cover. That cover will come only from Andhra or Tamil Nadu. You can't cover for a possible defeat in UP by winning Mizoram or Goa. You have to win a large state somewhere else. That's why they are investing in the South."
The saffron party used to be a member of the AIADMK alliance until recently, but AIADMK walked out of the NDA alliance -- reportedly because it was afraid of meeting the same fate as many of BJP's regional allies in other states such as Maharashtra.
The BJP has used regional parties to establish a foothold in new states, and eventually outgrown its regional partner to stand on its own legs.