BJP tweaking its campaign strategy

The party wants more thrust on Sabarimala issue in the final lap of electioneering

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 13/04/2019::The Sabarimala Karma Samithy staging a prayer session before the Secretariat on Satuday accusing the government of slapping false cases on Ayyappa devotees........Photo: S.Gopakumar/The Hindu.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be tweaking its campaign strategy for the current Lok Sabha election by laying more thrust on the Sabarimala issue in the final lap of electioneering to garner maximum Hindu votes, notwithstanding the Election Commission’s warning against soliciting votes in the name of faith and religion.

The strategy shift follows BJP national leaders’ diatribe against the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and party president Amit Shah’s comparison of Wayanad, from where Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting the poll, with Pakistan.

Indication

The first indication in this regard was made with the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, a construct of the Sangh Parivar, staging a prayer session in front of the Secretariat on Saturday.

This is being construed as a Sangh Parivar bid to keep the embers burning on the issue of allowing women of child-bearing age into the Sabarimala temple, mainly in the southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta, where the BJP hopes to consolidate its gains. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which manages the BJP election machinery, has been reported to be sour over the BJP’s confusion over flagging the issue right from the launch of the campaign. The latest attempt is the outcome of a realisation that the National Democratic Alliance candidates could easily reach out to the voters on the Sabarimala issue.

The BJP does not seem to be concerned about the flak it would draw from its principal foes, the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front, for harping on Sabarimala, since this is considered to be a better deal than evading the issue.

Though the party has been treading cautiously since the Election Commission has put its foot down and cautioned against raising religious and communal issues, this is no more found to be a viable option by the party and decided to pivot the campaign on Sabarimala itself.

‘No compromise’

“We cannot afford to skip an issue that has a direct impact on scores of believers in the State. The party has decided to include Sabarimala, the failure of the State government in managing natural calamities and similar issues even in our address through Doordarshan. This will be the prime campaign plank in the final phase and there is no compromise on it,” BJP State spokesperson M.S. Kumar said.