New Delhi, December 9 – The semi-finals are over. And while the mood in the saffron camp is upbeat, the BJP’s task is still cut out for the 2014 general elections. However, for the Congress leaders, who spent the result day defending the rout in the guise of “respecting the people’s verdict”, the going looks very difficult.
The BJP has achieved victory in three states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. In Delhi, though it hasn’t won the majority, it is still the single largest party.
Together, the four states account for 72 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP would now try to leverage its success in the Assembly elections to garner the magical 272 seats when the country goes to polls for the 2014 general elections. The big question is whether the BJP will be able to maintain this momentum till May next year.
Changing mindset
On the other hand, the Congress’s focus over the next few months would be on changing the electorate’s mindset. Another worry for the Grand Old Party would be the voting trend of the last two general elections, for the Assembly polls, which came months before the Lok Sabha elections, left a huge impact on the latter. In 2003 and 2008 Assembly polls, when Sheila Dikshit won her second and third terms, it helped the Congress win more seats in the Lok Sabha polls in 2004 and 2009, respectively.
“It (Assembly poll results) will indeed have its effect on national polls as the people need a change and they will go with the BJP’s agenda of good governance and anti-corruption plank,” says Ananth Kumar, BJP general secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh.
Using trend
The BJP top leadership, including party chief Rajnath Singh and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, is aiming to leverage this trend in its favour with aggressive campaigning, says a party source.
The BJP maintains that the victory in state polls has proved that people are unhappy with the Congress. It won’t be difficult for them to “dethrone the UPA”.
“The voters’ anger is clear in the state polls and it will have its impact on the Centre as well. We’re only going to build up from here in a more aggressive manner with BJP top leadership leading the campaign in the states,” Kumar added.
While Ashok Gehlot’s defeat in Rajasthan has left the party in the lurch, for the BJP, an emphatic return of Vasundhara Raje has raised the party’s hopes of grabbing most of the Lok Sabha seats in the desert state.
In Madhya Pradesh too the BJP’s Lok Sabha seat tally is expected to jump as under Shivraj Singh Chouhan the party hopes to improve its position by the time parliamentary polls take place and win more seats than what it got in the 2008 elections – 16 out of 29.
Another factor which adds to the BJP’s winning chances is that there is no third major party which will eat into the Congress’s votes, meaning the BJP is going to benefit hugely from negative voting.
“Even those who voted for Arvind Kejirwal in Delhi will choose Modi as their PM. The anti-incumbency vote will not split in the national elections,” a senior BJP leader said.
Sunday’s results have also quashed the “uncertainties” about the BJP. “Those, who had any doubt about Modi’s leadership and his popularity having its impact on the polls results, have got their answers,” he added.
–Indiatoday
