Difficult for BJP to come to power in 2014: RSS

Says the party has a bigger army of leaders than workers in the State

Holding that the Bharatiya Janata Party is suffering from the ‘Congress syndrome' in Uttar Pradesh, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has said it will be difficult for the party, which has a “bigger army of leaders than workers” in the State, to come to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections unless it answers the questions posed by the Assembly poll results.

In the editorials of its mouthpieces TheOrganiser and Panchjanya , the Sangh asked the BJP why it could not be the choice for voters despite having an organised structure and cadre in the State.

“In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will have to think about the bigger army of leaders than workers,” it said.

The BJP has performed poorly in the elections and could manage only 47 seats — four less than it secured in 2007 — in the 403-member State Assembly.

Several questions

Asking the BJP to look into the election results, the RSS said: “Election results in U.P. have posed several questions and their solutions have to be found well in time otherwise the 2014 general elections can become ‘agneepath' [path of fire] for it [BJP] and crossing it to reach the centre of power can prove to be difficult.”

Disconnect with voters

The RSS alleged that the BJP was disconnected from the people.

“In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP too suffers from the Congress syndrome — disconnect with its voters. So, it has lost half of its vote share in the last one decade,” it said.

“Core ideological issues, principled approach and credibility of leadership are needed to sway the voter. More than the party, the leader and more than the leader, his track record [performance] determines poll outcome these days,” the editorial in The Organiser said.

The RSS said with the kind of casteist and communal politics dominating the State, the BJP's weakening there would strengthen the fundamentalist forces as has been proved by the elections.