Lotus eaters: Cracks run deep in state units too

The BJP is in a disarray after the Lok Sabha poll debacle, with central leaders baying for each other’s blood seeking a change in Delhi. How are the party’s state units reacting to the turmoil? DNA takes stock.

Defeat has a disintegrating effect. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which suffered a colossal loss in the just-concluded general election, is cracking. Although the epicenter is in Delhi, where a bloody blame game has begun, the drubbing is exposing the many fault lines in the party’s state units.

In Karnataka, where chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s pro-farmer policies enabled the BJP to improve its 2004 tally by 1 and win 19 seats, the party is facing dissidence. General secretary Arun Jaitley recently held talks with senior ministers and dissidents in Bangalore and quelled the resentment, but only to an extent. The mining barons of Bellary, revenue minister Karunakara Reddy and tourism minister Janardhana Reddy stayed away.

Certain ministers and MLAs are unhappy with the style of Yeddyurappa’s functioning. Energy minister KS Eshwarappa, who had blasted the CM’s ways, has been placated, but the Reddy brothers remain aloof.

Madhya Pradesh (MP) leaders are looking at Delhi for direction, which is clearly not coming. The unease at the Centre is being discussed in hush-hush tones and the veneer of discipline appears to be falling apart. The ruling BJP was expected to excel in the state, but the Congress walked away with 12 of the 29 seats, a gain of eight over 2004, in a jolt to LK Advani confidant chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

A minister’s comment against Advani at an informal cabinet meeting soon after the poll result last month indicated the dismal state of affairs. The minister echoed the sentiment in certain sections that Advani had become a “liability”.

President Rajnath Singh does not have many followers in the state and most leaders are behind Advani. But this could change if the latter devolves authority.

Once a stronghold of the RSS, MP would be worst hit if the power struggle in Delhi gets murkier.

The Rajasthan BJP split into three camps after the Lok Sabha poll, in which it was reduced to four seats from the healthy tally of 21 (of 25) in 2004.

State president Om Prakash Mathur and opposition leader in the assembly Vasundhara Raje are not on talking terms. They have been lobbying hard in Delhi to oust each other. Mathur is angry because he is facing flak despite Raje deciding most candidates. He recently resigned owning “responsibility” for the poll loss, but also sought the resignation of “equally responsible” Raje. The RSS is keeping a distance from both and is weighing its options, including support to the anti-Raje, anti-Mathur faction led by former state president Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi.

Raje is considered close to Advani, while Mathur is a Narendra Modi confidant.
The poor performance in Uttar Pradesh should be a matter of concern and embarrassment for Rajnath, who hails from the state.

The BJP has been limited to 10 seats, a repeat of 2004. The party’s vote share has been dwindling since then. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, it was a respectable 22.17%, it came down to 19.62% in the 2007 assembly election, when the BJP was pushed to third place behind SP and BSP with 51 seats, and in the latest electoral round, the share has come further down to 17.50%.

However, the party’s state satraps do not seem to be willing to learn from the fiasco. Groupism and internal bickering are at their extreme. Senior leaders such as Kalraj Misra, Vinay Katiyar and Murli Manohar Joshi camp separately.

Rajnath Singh, who is a Thakur, does not command the respect a party president deserves simply because there are several leaders who consider him their junior. They refuse to listen to him. As a result, the BJP is a divided house in UP. What’s worse, there is no remedy in sight, not in the near future at least.

The Gujarat BJP unit has adopted a wait-and-watch policy. State leaders are cautious because of chief minister Modi’s proximity to Advani. Some believe the party could not get the desired result in the state because Hindutva poster boy Modi was projected as the prime ministerial candidate after Advani. “Most leaders — Modi loyalists and critics — are concerned about the developments in Delhi but have adopted a wait and watch policy,” a party leader told DNA.

(With inputs from Hemant Kumar in Bangalore, Abhilash Khandekar in Bhopal, Nikunj Soni in Ahmedabad & Deepak Gidwani in Lucknow)