BJP ready to rework political pacts with regional parties
One expected electoral pyrotechnics between the ruling BJD and its principal opposition BJP ahead of the all-important 2024 polls but Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s dashing down to Odisha has seemingly changed the political dynamics in a single day. On Friday, Shah and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik shared the dais with an unexpected public display of bonhomie. The former heaped praise on Naveen and received reciprocation for the Centre’s cooperation from the latter. The mutual admiration left political parties bemused but also signalled the altering course of political alliances in India. It is a win-win situation for BJD, which enjoys a brute majority in the state, and the party will have everything going for it when the next polls arrive.
For the BJP’s state unit, though, the path forward is muddled. Currently besieged by infighting, it will have a tough job explaining the Central leadership’s political stand to its workers and voters. In the meeting with state leaders, Shah may have asserted that his outing with Naveen was not to be taken at face value, but it surely dents his party’s posture of being against BJD, with elections only months away. For history’s sake, it would be prudent to remember that it was the tough-talking Shah who, just before the 2019 polls, had set Mission 120 for his state unit, pushing them to toss the BJD government into the Bay of Bengal.
But politics on the national stage has played out differently of late. The BJD extended a helping hand every time BJP needed it in Parliament on crucial issues, and it was no different this time around when the opposition moved a no-trust motion and significant legislation required support at least in the Rajya Sabha where the national party does not have adequate numbers. Shah flying down to Bhubaneswar a day after BJD supported the Delhi Services Bill indicates the BJP is willing to rework its political game plan with regional parties in exchange for guaranteed support in Parliament.
The strategy prevents the anti-BJP alliance, INDIA, from gaining more regional parties. But it also threatens to stymie BJP’s expansion plans in states like Odisha, where it aims to gain more seats in the next general elections to compensate for losses in other regions. The BJP-BJD or BJP-YSRCP ‘Bhai Bhai’ perception in the public’s mind might just backfire for the saffron party vis-à-vis seat numbers.