Time for soul-searching by saffron party

Why is BJP continuously facing setback in elections? Is it suffering from TINA factor or is there a vacuum in party leadership? As per exit poll predictions, the BJP, certainly, is not going to win the Haryana elections for third term and even in J&K it is going to face a tough situation. The Congress appears to be heading for a clear win in Haryana after a decade. In J&K, the BJP is likely to repeat the result of 2014 when it won around 25 seats.

These two elections assume importance since they are being held after a little over 100 days of Lok Sabha elections where the BJP could not succeed in its attempt of ‘Ab ki baar 400 paar’ and had to stop at 240 seats. It had lost 63 seats compared to 2019 but managed to come back to power with the help of allies. While the writing on the wall as far as Haryana was concerned was almost clear that it would be a litmus test for BJP, the saffron party was hoping to do better in J&K. But it appears that their hopes are unlikely to turn into reality. The saffron party needs to go in for a serious introspection as it has now to face the elections in Maharashtra in November for which the campaign has already begun which would be followed by elections to Delhi Assembly. If Congress forms the government on its own in Haryana and with National Conference in alliance in J&K, it certainly could be ringing alarm bells for the BJP. The party needs to re-work its poll strategies and narrative. It will have to ponder if the NAMO factor needs a makeover.

The big question is whether the BJP is facing a vacuum regarding its leadership? It is yet to find a new party president. Four months have passed by since the term of JP Nadda is over. Nadda apart from being the party president is now a Union Minister. This gives the impression that the party is suffering from the TINA factor.

BJP has always been known as a party where there were many alternative leaders. For example, there was Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani was his alternative and there were others who were alternative to Advani. But now in the last decade, things seem to have changed, and the entire politics has been revolving around Modi and Amit Shah in particular. The party does not seem to be having a leader who could assert himself and who has pan-India acceptability.

May be, the BJP in the last decade travelled in the same path as the Congress had done in last two decades. The Congress did not allow the second rung leadership to emerge and has been facing defeat after defeat. There was a talk that Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is now 65-year-old and has been a staunch RSS sevak and three-time Chief Minister may succeed Nadda. He certainly is known as an independent personality. The question is whether it will be an asset for him or a liability. There are other leaders like Bhupendra Yadav, but they do not have pan-India acceptability. In the past, there used to be a battery of leaders from different states who could be chosen as national presidents. But now the situation is different. Another reason for the setback for BJP could be that it feels that it can survive without RSS. Whatever it may be, its time for serious introspection for the party.