- Reams and reams have been written on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election machinery working overtime to emerge victorious at the hustings facing every challenge thrown along. People closely following the fortunes of political parties would have noticed how the BJP leadership meticulously goes about It is an admirable trait worthy of emulation by every political party worth it’s salt. No sooner than one election campaigning gets concluded, the BJP’s campaigning for the next elections immediately kickstarts. Of course, the planning for undertaking election-related works is accomplished much before the eventual dates are announced. This is where the BJP is way ahead of its competitors. So, what are the challenges the saffron party is staring at soon?
PC:Sanjay Pandey, DHNS, Lucknow
- The BJP had a tremendous boost to its morale while spectacularly succeeding to retain power in Gujarat. However, it lost out to Congress in Himachal Pradesh. Mind you, there are crucial elections lined up in states like Karnataka, Rajashthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana this year. Most importantly, a few northeastern states too would be gearing up for the elections which may not be too easy for the BJP to romp home. Yes, polls in there Northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland are likely to be held in February/March, as the dates are yet to be declared by EC. Indeed, it will be a serious test for BJP. Let’s look at the scenario prevailing in each of the states. It makes for an interesting read.
- In Tripura, which the BJP won spectacularly in 2018, cracks have appeared in the state unit, which forced the incumbent CM to step down. Moreover, BJP’s relations with its tribal ally, IPFT, have not been problem-free. This has been compounded by the steady rise of a party demanding a separate tribal state. CPM has announced its intention of allying potentially with Congress and the new entrant. However, TMC, which too has been eyeing Tripura since its victory in the 2021 Bengal polls, is likely to undermine such opposition unity by contesting all 60 seats alone. The NPP-BJP alliance in Meghalaya seems to be under strain with the incumbent CM indicating last year that his party was willing to fight the polls without an ally.
PC:Scroll Staff
- Also, the CM has reservations about a Uniform Civil Code in a tribal state. Moreover, there is the festering interstate border dispute with neighbouring BJP-governed Assam. The Assam Police firing incident in November that killed six people further chilled ties between the coalition partners. Similar border and territorial issues also plague Nagaland and Assam. Apart from the demand for a separate state of Frontier Nagaland, the existing impasse between the Centre and the NSCN-IM over the Naga peace talks will prove to be dicey. Taken together, the three Northeast states present very complicated challenges for BJP. This is where the ensuing elections here become interesting to see how the BJP’s election machinery goes about its task.
