BJP finds itself in do-or-die situation

If the BJP can’t end its 16-year political exile in the capital in Saturday’s election, it will, perhaps, never be able to so. This Assembly election is the saffron party’s best bet to bounce back to recognition in the city.

Projection of former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi as the party’s chief minister, pressing into service over 100 MPs for campaign and giving the poll management’s charge to national president Amit Shah, touted as the most successful BJP chief ever, is the best possible combination that the saffron party could put its money on.

Shah has repeatedly said that the BJP is on its way to form the next Delhi government but pollsters’ anticipation of the AAP `success’ has prevented the party’s leaders from putting a figure on their final tally on the counting day on February 10.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the BJP is going to register a “decisive” victory, indicating that reaching the half-way mark in the 70-member Assembly is within the sight and the only unanswered question is whether the party will bag a two-third majority.

The BJP’s campaign was one of the most visible, forceful and loudest ever seen in the recent times. It certainly was at a much higher scale than the one for last year’s Lok Sabha polls in which the party swept all the seven seats.

Shah took personal control of the Delhi BJP campaign, prepared a blueprint for activating booth level workers and repeatedly warned Delhi unit leaders to end infighting and give up lethargy.

In the end, Shah summed up the party’s preparations for the election with an observation that “there are no dissidents” in this poll.

The way central BJP leaders and Union ministers took control of the Delhi unit office in the last two weeks ahead of the polling day signalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah were seeing victory in Delhi as a “prestige issue”.

The central leadership realised early that the internal differences in the city unit was the biggest bane of the party to reclaim power in the city, thus, Shah showed little faith and confidence in using the local leaders as the foot soldiers and roped in parliamentarians and central leaders for the “do-or-die” fight.

The delayed announcement of a chief ministerial candidate, that too a non-politician, rocked the party boat with many aspirants grumbling behind doors.

The denial of a ticket to Poorvanchali leader and Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay and protests at the Delhi unit office by rejected ticket aspirants also caused some embarrassment.

Just four days before the voting day, Bedi’s campaign manager quit the party and dramatically reversed his decision and an embarrassing gaffe in the party’s vision document saw people from the northeast being referred as “immigrants”.

The party’s tactical induction of rebels from other parties, including former AAP leaders V K Binny and M S Dhir and Congress leader Krishna Tirath, also upset some BJP leaders.

The BJP leaders may disagree but the counting on February 10 will decide whether the Modi wave is still strong enough in the city after Lok Sabha poll.