New Delhi: The defeat of BJP on Thursday,
especially in Maharashtra and Haryana where it had been part
of coalition governments earlier, has come as a severe blow
to the party that is already reeling under the Lok Sabha
debacle and serious internal discord.
While BJP did not have much hope in Haryana, where its
dumped its ally INLD and failed to cobble up an alliance with
with Bhajan Lal`s party HJC, the third consecutive assembly
election loss in Maharashtra has thoroughly demoralised the
party.
In alliance with its oldest saffron friend, Shiv Sena,
the party had hoped to retrieve some ground after the Lok
Sabha debacle by capturing power in Maharashtra, pinning on
anti-incumbency factor.
But the Raj Thackerary-led MNS, the splinter group of
Shiv Sena, again played the spoilsport for the Sena-BJP
combine handing over victory to the Congress-NCP combine for a
third consecutive term.
BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad admitted as much
when he said that MNS, which was poised to get 12 seats, had
affected the alliance in over 40 seats. This, he said, had
made the difference between victory and defeat.
One of the top leaders of BJP in Maharashtra,
Gopinath Munde, appeared despondent when he said the party was
badly in need of a morale-booster but what happened in the
state would come as a further dampner.
"Nationally the party needs a young leadership," he
said, a view that may find immediate resonance in several of
his partymen.
"The victory would have had a major effect on the
party at the national level but we lost. The party needs a
morale booster and a young leadership," he said.
Prasad said "We will have to think about our
weaknesses... We will have to carry out an honest analysis. We
need to address these issues."
"I feel that the most important is that we need to
speak in one voice," he said, hinting that discord within the
party could have been one of the factors for its poor
performance.
While a change of guard is in the offing with party
president Rajnath Singh completing his term in December, this
defeat is likely to raise the clamour for senior leader L K
Advani shedding whatever posts he has like the Leader of the
Opposition in Lok Sabha.
The RSS, which had told Advani to choose his successor
as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, is likely to assert
itself further and play a more prominent role in BJP affairs.
This may lead to more pressure on Advani to quit
active politics sooner, say party sources.
The dent in BJP-Shiv Sena votes by Raj Thackeray-led
MNS may set the party thinking on future alliance partners.
"MNS appears set to win about 13 seats after garnering
around 5-6 per cent votes. After all, these were our votes,"
Munde said.
The snapping of ties with Om Prakash Chautala`s INLD
has also proved to be an erroneous decision for the BJP. While
Chautala was keen on an alliance, a section within the BJP
felt there was no point in continuing the alliance after the
two failed to win a single seat in Lok Sabha polls.
"INLD has won 31 seats in Haryana assembly polls. Had
the alliance continued, we would have gained considerably,"
said a BJP leader.
BJP General Secretary in-charge of Haryana, Vijay
Goel said discussing which alliance would have reaped
better results is now an "after-thought". But he did concede
that Congress had gained from the confusion in the opposition
camp.
"Congress has benefitted from the division of votes of
opposition parties," he said, adding, "If these parties (like
MNS, INLD or HJC) fight together, we can defeat the Congress."
The BJP also seems to be at a loss for issues as price
rise, corruption, terrorism and accusations of misrule against
Congress did not cut ice with the electorate.
Bureau Report
