As Dausa MP Harish Meena and MLA Manvendra Singh joined Congress, BJP’s central leadership is trying to focus on how to contain the damage.
New Delhi: As yet another Rajasthan BJP leader joins the Congress, the party’s top brass in Delhi is worried about what it believes to be the “mess” in the state’s unit, the “adverse optics” being generated as well as the possible impact on the party’s fortunes in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Harish Chandra Meena, BJP MP from Dausa, joined the Congress Wednesday, days before the state assembly polls. This comes after veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s son and BJP MLA Manvendra Singh quit the party and joined the Congress last month, uttering the slogan, “Kamal Ka Phool, Hamari Bhool” (the lotus flower, our mistake).
Rajasthan votes on 7 December and the results will be declared on 11 December.
According to highly placed sources in the party, the BJP’s central leadership is “greatly worried” about what is happening in Rajasthan, not just in terms of the forthcoming assembly elections, but also in terms of how it makes the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah look ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“A sitting MP quitting the party just days before polls is no small matter. The Rajasthan BJP is a mess,” said a BJP source who did not wish to be identified.
“As far as these elections are concerned, we know Congress has more than an edge, so it isn’t this that is the worry. But instances like Singh and Meena quitting have larger ramifications. They create adverse optics,” the BJP leader added.
The BJP leader also believes, while the unhappiness is with CM Vasundhara Raje, “people quitting still reflects on the leadership of the PM and party president”.
Also read: BJP braces for trouble as second Rajasthan poll list leaves out 3 ministers, 15 MLAs
‘Lack of faith in BJP leadership’
Sources say BJP’s concern is that since Modi and Shah have always attempted to maintain the image of being “strong, in-control leaders”, people quitting the party under their watch not only shows they consider it a sinking ship in the state, but also “have no faith in its future”.
“People leaving the Congress to join us is something we have always used against the Congress leadership. So many leaders quitting us for the Congress in one state in quick succession is hardly something we can explain,” the source said.
In addition, the BJP is worried about the possible impact on the party’s fate in the Lok Sabha polls. In 2014, the party swept the state, winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats.
“Our aim has been that even if we lose assembly polls, we have to try to reduce the margin of defeat and ensure the damage in Lok Sabha polls in the state is minimised,” said another party leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“But if people keep leaving, it will affect that as well. Why will voters show faith in us if our own leaders don’t? The worry is larger than just the immediate polls,” the BJP leader added.
According to the sources, the BJP top brass in Delhi is now trying to focus on how to contain the damage, prevent any further defections and showcase a cohesive house ahead of 2019.
Also read: Rajasthan polls: How Vasundhara Raje managed to have the final say in ticket allotment
Caste calculations
The party is also aware of the electoral drawback of defections in terms of caste calculations. Meena, for instance, is the MP from Dausa and belongs to the electorally significant Meena community. His older brother Namo Narain Meena is a Congress leader.
The BJP in Rajasthan appears to have been floundering, with a chief minister becoming increasingly unpopular, a state government losing complete control of the narrative, losses in crucial bypolls — often with embarrassing margins and a resurgent Congress.
The tension between Raje and Shah — seen most pointedly in the delay in appointment of a state president — has also been a poorly kept secret, impacting not just the party’s functioning in the state but also hampering decision making processes.