BJP rift gives Cong time to strategise
The power struggle within the BJP is giving the Congress enough time to redo its political strategy ahead of over half-a-dozen Assembly elections. While the elevation of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, if it takes place, could help the Congress by consolidating minorities and backward castes against the saffron party, this would also prevent anti-Congress parties like the BJD, the TDP, the AGP and others from coming closer to the BJP.
According to the Congress insiders, the appeal, following and charisma of Mr Modi, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley could be seen in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka going to Assembly polls in 2012-13. The RSS’ growing interference in the BJP, the silence of BJP chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Dr Raman Singh, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Prem Kumar Dhumal and Manohar Parrikar on the current power struggle within the party is significant. On the other hand, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is unlikely to succumb to the RSS’ pressure tactics, they feel.
These developments could help the Congress in the election-going states if it takes corrective steps and backs the mass base leaders in the party.
The Congress is not taking Mr Gadkari seriously ever since he became the BJP chief. In fact, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh viewed Mr Gadkari as “more of a businessman than a politician”.
Mr Modi’s aggressive divisive campaign could weaken the BJP’s current and prospective allies.
The Modi-Gadkari-Jaitley trio would certainly change the “chaal, chehra and charitra” of the BJP from social engineering to corporate culture, felt another leader.
The NDA had checked the Congress from coming to power at the Centre for nearly eight years because of the leadership of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. He had won friends in Tamil Nadu despite the BJP’s Hindi and Hindu face, and in Andhra, Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, and even in Jammu and Kashmir.
Post new comment