- One particular aspect of the Bharatiya Janata Party that deserves a special mention is the way the election machinery keeps chugging along despite mixed results in the form of success and defeat. Taking both in an equanimous manner defines the BJP’s mindset but never shows them taking off the foot from the pedal though. There simply exists no place for complacency in the saffron brigade’s well-oiled election campaign machinery that keeps reinventing itself time and again. Needless to mention, it’s an admirable trait worthy of emulation by other political parties. The credit should largely go to the top leadership for setting the tone right from the party’s biggest mascot Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.
PC: File
- As they say, the leader sets the benchmark is true in every sense by looking at the way the BJP’s top leadership goes about taking on the electoral challenges without showing any signs of fatigue or complacency. Thus, the BJP is not only a formidable competitor in the electoral arena but also sets an exalted bar that is not easy to follow suit. For instance, look at the way the party has chosen to go about the forthcoming assembly elections starting from Madhya Pradesh, where it’s locked in a tight contest with Congress. The party released a list of 39 candidates and the highlight was another shakeup but with a palpable difference. Veterans, some of whom are GOI ministers, were asked to head back and contest assembly elections.
- Notable among them was the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Yet another surprise was the party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who candidly admitted to being ambivalent about it as it jeopardises his son’s chance of getting a ticket. As reported, some heavyweights asked to contest in the assembly elections were part of the party’s election committee meetings but appeared to be taken unawares by their names on the list. Mind you, if the aim was to shake up the hierarchy, it worked. No wonder, there are indications that BJP’s strategy in other poll-bound states such as Telangana and Rajasthan will be similar as well. Interestingly, this shakeup is different from the BJP’s earlier approach of dropping senior leaders.
PC: Trends
- As you are aware, nowhere was the earlier strategy employed with more drama than in Gujarat in 2021 – the then CM and the entire council of ministers were replaced a year before the next election. The new CM and many of his colleagues were first-time MLAs. The resultant outcome was in 2022, the BJP won a historic mandate. Nonetheless, an attempt in Karnataka to relegate its veterans failed to offset anti-incumbency in the assembly elections this year. The results show that a shakeup in the party hierarchy doesn’t always work as voters consider other factors, including the performance of an incumbent government. Thus, the experimentation without taking the foot off the pedal continues for the saffron brigade. This is very admirable.
