Realpolitik forces BJP to tone down its campaign in States

The focus now is on getting key Bills passed in Rajya Sabha

March 30, 2015 01:36 am | Updated November 17, 2021 01:00 am IST - NEW DELHI

Kolkata.                               Date: 30/11/2014.
Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President addressing at a massive gathering at the prominent rally place of Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister of the State, Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Sunday.
Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

Kolkata. Date: 30/11/2014.
Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President addressing at a massive gathering at the prominent rally place of Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister of the State, Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Sunday.
Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

The compulsions of running a government at the Centre and getting key legislation through have forced the Bharatiya Janata Party to tone down its aggressive plans in the States.

Sources in the party said that in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab, where the BJP had launched aggressive campaigns against the regional parties in power after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it has been forced to scale down its rhetoric.

The parallel campaigns in these States were aimed at capturing power in the next set of Assembly elections to be held between 2016 and early 2017.

“The task of countering the State governments on local issues has been left to the State units of the BJP, while the Central leaders have been asked to carefully weigh their words,” a Minister in the Narendra Modi government said.

He revealed that key Ministers in the government have been entrusted with the task of breaking Opposition unity first, particularly in the Rajya Sabha.

“The Land Bill problem has been sorted out, but only for the time being. After the re-promulgation of the Land Ordinance, we will still need to get a Bill passed. Different senior leaders are working on different parties,” the Minister added.

The BJP leadership led by its president Amit Shah had launched aggressive campaigns in West Bengal and in Uttar Pradesh after the 2014 Lok Sabha success.

Shifts focus to membership drive

The need to get key legislation passed through Parliament with uneven numbers in both Houses has forced the BJP to recalibrate its hardline campaign in the States, particularly where Assembly elections are scheduled in the next two years.

A BJP general secretary in U.P. said: “The party is focussed on building its numbers first.” The party had launched agitations against the law and order problems and power crisis in Uttar Pradesh shortly after the Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP and its ally, the Apna Dal, won 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the State.

In West Bengal, the party targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government last year, sending teams of leaders to the State as fact-finding missions to publicise what it dubbed as the Trinamool Congress’ failures.

Of late, however, the BJP has been focusing on bringing Left cadres into its fold rather than confronting the Trinamool. The party had in November 2014 set itself a target of recruiting one crore members in West Bengal. State in-charge Sidharth Nath Singh said on Sunday that the membership numbers in the State had “crossed 36 lakh.” The drive ends on March 31.

Asked about the BJP eyeing Left cadres as potential members, he said: “We have grown from 1.25 lakh last year. Obviously members of other parties are joining us.” He said the BJP has replaced the Left as the principal Opposition “in terms of mind space and vote share.” A Trinamool TMC leader and former Union Minister, however, said the BJP “has a long way to go.”

In Punjab, the party had begun targeting its own ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, late last year over the issue of widespread drug smuggling in the State. Mr. Shah even planned to launch an anti-drug agitation in the State on January 22, with the party eyeing a political future independent of its ally. The agitation was called off when the party realised that it would need allies to get Bills passed in the Rajya Sabha, a Punjab BJP leader said. He added that the agitation was now being carried under the aegis of an NGO with the party’s support and “the focus has shifted from targeting the Akalis to luring people towards the BJP.”

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.