The party think-tank is worried about the reaction from the volunteers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Gujarati community.
Troubled by the infighting in the party at the Centre, the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels that its loyal voters may refrain from supporting it with an open mind in the October assembly elections.
The party think-tank is worried about the reaction from the volunteers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Gujarati community. “RSS workers did not like the glorification of Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” said a senior BJP official, referring to expelled leader Jaswant Singh’s book, Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence.
“We are depending on the RSS workers for campaigning. They never vote for any other party. But when they are unhappy with BJP, they do not come out to vote. This is a matter of concern for us.”
A text message being circulated among mobile phone users also has the party worried. “In the Lok Sabha election, 85% Gujaratis voted for the BJP. Will BJP manage to retain the voters in the assembly election?” the message reads.
Taking advantage of BJP’s virtual helplessness, ally Shiv Sena has started mounting pressure on it regarding seat sharing. “Sena fears that the BJP is slowly losing its base in the state. We worry that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena may get the benefit in constituencies where BJP will field non-Marathi candidates,” said a Sena leader.
However, BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde asserted that there will be no impact of the happenings in Delhi on Maharashtra. “Arun Shourie’s complaints about the party was discussed in the national executive meeting. He was given a chance to put forth his views. We are preparing a document on how to address the issues he raised. The document will also have a road map the party wants to walk in future,” he said.
Munde denied that the infighting will have an adverse effect on seat sharing with Sena. “Winning ability is the main criterion in the negotiations over seat sharing with Sena. We are going to contest the same number of seats we contested in the last election (119).
There is no dispute or pressure in the negotiations,” he said.
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