Amit Shah rushes to Chhattisgarh, where BJP is seeking fourth successive term, to fine-tune strategy. BJP hopes alliance will offset anti-incumbency.
New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah landed up in Chhattisgarh Friday, a day after the BSP announced an alliance with Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh. Shah is in the state to fine-tune the BJP’s poll strategy for the assembly polls, slated for later this year.
The BJP hopes that the newly-formed alliance will help it retain Chhattisgarh where Chief Minister Raman Singh is seeking a fourth successive term.
BJP leaders are of the view that while the Jogi-Mayawati alliance may not be able to win elections on its own, it could eat into the anti-incumbency votes that would benefit the ruling party.
Also read: Mahagatbandhan gets a Mayawati reality check as BSP raises the stakes
The state has so far only witnessed bipolar contests, between the Congress and the BJP, with all of them being tight affairs. The difference in vote-share, between the winner and the party finishing second, was 2.55 per cent in 2003, 1.8 per cent in 2008 and just 0.77 per cent in 2013.
The BJP now hopes that the new alliance will queer the pitch in its favour.
BJP leaders say that Jogi commands a significant vote-share in at least 10 of the state’s 90 assembly seats, while the BSP, which has one sitting MLA in the House, could command more such votes in up to 10 more seats.
Together, the BJP leaders say, the two parties could affect voting patterns in up to 40 assembly segments.
Why BSP-Jogi alliance matters
The Mayawati-Jogi tie-up hopes to cash in on the Dalit-tribal population in the state.
Tribals form about 31.8 per cent of the state’s population, while Dalits make up 11.6 per cent. Together they are a politically crucial and formidable vote bank. The alliance is primarily targeting the 10 assembly seats reserved for SCs and the 29 seats for STs.
While Jogi was with the Congress earlier, the BSP has had a presence in the state. In the 2003 elections, the BSP had a vote-share of 5.09 per cent and one MLA in the assembly. In 2008, the vote-share rose to 6.11 per cent, which got the party two MLAs, but it dropped to 4.3 per cent in the last elections, when the party only won one seat.
Also read: BJP will not take initiative to form govt in Jammu & Kashmir, says Ram Madhav
The alliance could tap into the popular sentiment for a chief minister from the reserved categories, an ever-present demand since the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.