BJP leadership changes: Calculated or cumbersome

Politics is a sum of perceptions and actions. The way one sees the political situation, the way one measures it and the way one competes depends on the contemporaneity of the leaders. Right moves at right times lead to win-win situations. Usually, KCR does it and Sharad Pawar, too, despite the odds. Even Jagan Reddy assiduously is cultivating his vote banks. So, why cannot the BJP do it?

Look at the changes the BJP made ahead of the elections in the country now. What possibilities it is seeking to explore for either strengthening the party base or for winning the elections? In Telangana, bringing back G Kishan Reddy has not gone down well with a section of the party as the sacked president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, is a hardcore Hindutva leader having roots in the RSS. The BJP is said to have opted for a moderate leader keeping in view the differences among its leaders over Sanjay’s unilateral ways. But, Kishan Reddy’s stature itself remains questionable as well as his appeal. He also faces a charge that he has not really ‘attacked’ the BRS leadership ever forcefully.

If there is any perception change in Telangana it is not because of the BJP leadership issue. There was a time when the party was viewed as the ‘alternative’ to the TRS and the Congress suffered a huge dent because of this perception. The GHMC elections and a couple of byelections helped this feeling strengthen. On the other hand, despite its infighting and ego clashes, the Congress suddenly became a much-talked-about party at least post-Karnataka Assembly results. Whatever is the truth, the Congress definitely recovered its lost ground in the public perception.

Similarly, the AP scenario too remains challenging for the BJP. The BJP’s plight is that it has to tag along with either the Opposition minus Congress and the Leftists or remain receptive to Jagan’s friendship. The leadership swap between Kamma and Kapu communities in AP reflects more the confusion that the party is in rather than render it more effective. The BJP should have sealed its alliances here before attempting leadership change as a mere switchover will not help any incumbent to address the political problems properly.

The confusion in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh units of the saffron party is not exactly a fall-out of its State units’ insufficiencies alone. It is more because of the blow hot blow cold attitude of the central leadership. In both the States`, the BJP national leadership keeps referring to the misrule of the ruling parties yet, pulls back conveniently. Now with the larger issue of the Uniform Civil Code dominating the politics, the Centre might not displease either of the two – the BRS or the YSRCP. As for Punjab, it is ‘Eshwar Jaane’ situation. A change in leadership means nothing to the people here. The Maharashtra scene is unsettling for all parties. The churn here is aspirational but really not so combative or meaningful for the long run. Inaction in Manipur only has distanced a section of the church that had come closer to the BJP in the recent times. In Karnataka, a resurgent Congress is happily cruising along with the BJP leadership’s debris scattered far. Over ambitious leadership sometimes falters due to perceptual mismatches with the voter view.