Fly on the Wall
Desperate BJP in search of winning formula
The BJP seems to be in the process of evolving a new strategy to deal with the Opposition parties. After massive drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls and huge setback in bye-polls, the BJP leadership is now trying to deal with them differently and this policy may differ from state-to-state. The strategy is to woo the INDIA bloc allies including SP and others. Recently, the Prime Minister granted an audience to the Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM) who had been sent to jail by the central agencies in corruption cases, a first of sorts. Earlier, the Prime Minister, Modi had not granted an audience to any Chief Minister who had been inside the jail. It may also be borne in mind that cases against Soren continue to be pursued by the CBI and the ED. The Jharkhand BJP leaders are also baffled by this meeting and do not know how to react.
Earlier, the BJP leadership gave a shocker to UP where it suffered massive drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls ending up winning 33 seats only compared to 62 in 2019 polls. The SP under Akhilesh Yadav won 37 seats and the Congress six seats. A shell-shocked party president and Union Minister J P Nadda is traveling from state to state to understand why the party lost seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP's desperation surfaced when it seemed making overtures to SP president Akhilesh Yadav. Apart from dubbing the Congress a “parasite”, Nadda became his ‘well-wisher’. He and other BJP leaders warned Yadav that associating with the Congress can “finish” him. Nadda went on to say that “The Congress wins with the help of other parties and it means it’s a parasite party, which survives on others and then finishes the party on which it depends. It’s a creeper that takes the support of other parties to grow.”
Rahul's
to decide on Maharashtra
The Congress Party is in seventh Heaven after a big win in the Lok Sabha polls when it almost doubled its tally to 99 seats. Elated Congress leaders in Maharashtra are seeking around 120 seats in Assembly polls or going solo. The Congress' won 13 Lok Sabha seats out of 17 allotted to it compared to Uddhav's Sena could win 9 seats out of 21, while Sharad Pawar led NCP won 8 out of 10 seats it contested.
But the Central leadership is very clear about retaining unity in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). It is said there was an informal understanding among the MVA partners before the Lok Sabha polls that each one of them will contest 96 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections irrespective of the outcome of Lok Sabha polls. But after the results, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole started singing a different tune saying the party had become the “big brother” in the alliance. The high command was peeved and AICC state unit in-charge Ramesh Chennithala snubbed Patole. It is said that parties may have to adjust a few seats as per requirement in view of defections as Assembly polls draw near. It had also been decided that the MVA will not project any individual as its chief ministerial face and polls will be fought on collective leadership criteria. The Congress is keen on contesting at least 120 seats arguing that the political situation can't be written in stone. However, Rahul Gandhi who is traveling abroad, had sent a word to state party leaders not to make statements to weaken the MVA.
Is the Pope's visit finally taking off !
After making inroads in Karnataka and Telangana and to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, the BJP has its sights on Kerala in South. The NDA’s vote share in the state increased dramatically from 15.56% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 19.24 per cent in 2024. The BJP not only triumphed in Thrissur but also placed second in Thiruvananthapuram where Rajeev Chandrasekhar lost to Shashi Tharoor by only 16,077 votes. The BJP came first in 11 Assembly constituencies held by Communist parties and second in eight Assembly constituencies. It has now been decided that the BJP will go in a big way to woo the Christians largely because it is unable to get the support of Muslim minority. The Prime Minister's recent meeting with Pope Francis in Italy was extremely significant in this regard. Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India even as a photograph of the two exchanging a warm hug went viral. Though Modi had visited the Pope in 2021 also to visit India but nothing came out of it. But a lot of water has flown down the Ganges since then as the BJP now feels that it can emerge as the principal Opposition party in Kerala in March 2026 Assembly polls. The BJP's Kerala incharge Prakash Javadekar reported to have also emphasized that Pope visit may help in expanding the party's base. The government has been ambivalent on the Pope's visit as the RSS had objected to the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1999 when Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister. The RSS is peeved that various missionaries are active in converting tribal and poor into Christianity.
