JOIN USWhy BJP thinks Puducherry Assembly elections are important
In the outgoing Puducherry Assembly, the BJP has no elected members. And the party does not have much base in the tiny Union Territory that has long been a bastion of the Congress.
But, the BJP is now the cynosure of all eyes as Puducherry goes to polls on April 6 – it has emerged as the second-largest partner of the alliance led by All India N R Congress (AINRC) of N Rangasamy, pushing the AIADMK, which has four MLAs, to the third position.
In fact, the BJP wanted to lead the alliance and install its Chief Minister – it poached one minister, two popular legislators and a few senior leaders from the Congress, ensuring the fall of the V Narayanasamy government. But the BJP had to be content with playing the second fiddle to Rangasamy, albeit for now, as he played the hardball.
The party is just banking on the Congress rebels, and the anti-incumbency against the previous government to win seats – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have already campaigned in the UT. In the 2016 Assembly polls, many BJP candidates forfeited their deposit amounts and some of the defeated candidates entered the Assembly as nominated members.
Though it is contesting in just nine of the 30 seats at stake, the BJP, however, is pinning its hopes on three nominated members who are appointed to the House by the Centre. In fact, it was the support of the three nominated members – all BJP leaders – that helped the Opposition rock the Congress boat just a few days before election dates were announced.
The BJP's strategy is clear – to join the Rangasamy Cabinet if it is a clear mandate or try and form its own government in case the polls throw up a hung Assembly. It possesses a clear advantage since it has three “readily-available” MLAs. Anyways, the BJP could be the biggest gainer if the Congress-DMK alliance loses. For it would be part of a government in Puducherry, geographically close to Tamil Nadu that still remains a Waterloo for the saffron party. This would also be a major leap for the BJP, which is trying hard to expand its footprint in southern India.
Also read — Will BJP break into Tamil Nadu this time?
Such a development would allow the BJP to counter the narrative that it cannot win seats or be part of governments in the Tamil land. The BJP believes Puducherry is the springboard for it to make inroads into Tamil Nadu, the last fort that remains to be breached.
However, politics in Puducherry is distinctly different from that of Tamil Nadu – it is not based on personalities and the DMK and AIADMK have not been able to extend their sway beyond a point. All that matters here is candidates because of the size of the constituencies, which have a maximum of around 40,000 voters.
“The BJP feels it has a real chance this election in Puducherry and it wants to send a clear message to the electorate in Tamil Nadu that having the BJP in power would hugely benefit people. For this, the compact and tiny UT of Puducherry is expected to be the laboratory sample,” senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh told DH.