DNA Edit: Lotus Blooms

The saffron party has every reason to smile. Though the BJP may or may not form the next government in Karnataka, the fact that it was able to run the Congress into the ground and that too in a state with a strong Chief Minister, will certainly serve as a big morale booster for the party, with three big state elections — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — coming up.

Though there is an incumbency factor for the BJP in these states, the Congress’s lacklustre performance in Karnataka will only embolden the party. What’s more, unlike Karnataka, there are no strong regional players in these states for the Congress to ally with.

This puts the Grand Old Party on the back foot. Sonia Gandhi reportedly reaching out to the JD(S) in Karnataka, and HD Deve Gowda only wanting to speak to Mrs Gandhi, suggest that JD(S) has no confidence in Rahul’s leadership at the moment.

The other big reason for the BJP to be happy is that ‘Brand Modi’ is still the unifier for all Indians. Despite the fact that the PM faced a language barrier in Karnataka, a problem that was earlier considered a big hurdle when taking on a home grown Chief Minister, Kannadigas clearly opted for the Prime Minister’s message of development as opposed to Siddaramaiah’s policies of reservation — a policy that the Congress has tried time and again to woo the people with — and failed.

The other problem is that the lack of strong young leaders with proven track record is likely to hurt the Congress going forward, whether it is the state polls or the General Election. The other reason for the BJP to smile is that with the fading away of the Congress, there seems to be no discernible national Opposition in sight for them at the national level.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has called for an ‘anti-BJP front’, but this means regional parties will have to set aside age-old enmities and come together. Yes, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar and the Congress came together in a ‘Grand Alliance’ in Bihar to keep out the BJP, but it was not long before Nitish ditched his foe-turned-friend-turned foe and formed a coalition government with the NDA.

Bihar’s failure is likely to be seen in other states too, especially, when it comes to the national election, because it is totally impractical. Will Mamata ever ally with the Left Front? With the BSP and SP ever come together after such a long history of animosity? Though Mayawati and Akhilesh have sent out feelers to one another, the answer is a no. A Grand Alliance, Third Front, anti-BJP front, or whatever other name you may wish to call it, is untenable in today’s political scenario — a fact that is not likely to change soon.

This does not mean that the BJP does not have its problems — grumblings against Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, farmers’ issues and rising unemployment in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are issues that the party will have to deal with, especially in the run-up to the polls. But with strong chief ministers, a decimated national Opposition, and the PM providing the X-factor, the party so far has little to worry about.

An indication of how important the BJP is to the nation can be gauged by the mood of the Sensex. The Sensex rose as early trends showed the party heading towards single majority, and fell, when it fell short and talks of a Congress-JD(S) alliance was finalised.