BJP happy to come together with other parties but cadre worried! The importance given to external leaders is a big reason

Loksabha Election 2024: In view of the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party is engaged in increasing its clan. The BJP leadership even believes that it has achieved a major feat by splitting the Shiv Sena in the state of Maharashtra. Not only that, a year later, it has changed the political and electoral landscape in Maharashtra for the foreseeable future by wooing leaders of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). At the same time, other states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh have intensified their efforts by involving regional parties or in many cases their leaders.

Those behind the political maneuvering of the national leadership believe that such moves are necessary when a party feels cornered in its stronghold or when it finds it difficult to expand into areas that have been out of reach for long. are out of A party leader says, ‘Today BJP has achieved a position which no other party could even dream of, but we have weaknesses in many parts of the country and till we develop our core base there Till then we will have to turn to the leaders of other parties.

The leader cites the example of the BJP’s ideological parent, the RSS, which has always kept its eye on heroes from beyond the Hindutva pantheon to expand its reach. He cites the example of people like Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He says that Himanta had joined the party from the Congress in 2015, since then he has been a key figure in the development of the BJP in the Northeast.

Brijesh Pathak, Jitin Prasad and many other names to whom the party gave importance

Similarly, Brijesh Pathak (who came from the BSP) and Jitin Prasad (formerly of the Congress) are the Brahmin faces of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Brijesh Pathak is also involved in BJP’s mission to woo Pasmanda Muslims. In Telangana, former BRS leader Etela Rajender is expected to help the BJP’s ambitions in the state as its campaign committee chairman.

Despite all this, however, not everyone in the BJP is happy, especially the second-rate leaders who have been waiting for a long time, who suddenly find their position uncertain. Many are also uneasy about justifying the crossover on its own ideological grounds.

Many people privately ask the question that those leaders who were accused of corruption in the BJP government or who have other cases, have now joined the BJP or become a part of the NDA. To what extent is this appropriate? What does BJP think about this?

These leaders also talk about the difficulty in explaining why the BJP’s own governments are now increasingly presenting a welfare agenda, while the party adopts the opposition’s “rewadi” culture. A party leader even says, “As we are weakening the principles of the party, it is becoming difficult for the BJP to stand apart.”

‘BJP is now a party of differences’

A district leader who has been with the BJP for a long time. He told The Indian Express, “It is no longer a separate party. BJP is now a party of differences. Another local leader spoke about Devendra Fadnavis. He says those who had worked hard for the party over the years were asked to step down as chief ministers, so that the post could be handed over to Shinde Sena, a new ally of the BJP. They even say that we are working hard, many times we have spent money from our pocket to work for the party. Obviously we expect opportunities in the party, but if the opportunities in the party are distributed like this then where will we get the opportunity?

The disappointment is perhaps more acute, as the current BJP government focused heavily on new members and resources on building the organization in the early years after coming to power in 2014. Former journalist and currently press secretary to President Draupadi Murmu, Ajay Singh writes in his book that the Congress has weakened its vast organizational network, but on the contrary, the Modi government is busy strengthening the organisation. Because Modi wants to leave behind a strong organizational structure.

However, with others now facing a re-election to power, the question for them is why the party has not been able to accommodate people from the organization in their governments. A youth party leader in Madhya Pradesh asked, ‘How many top ministers have come through the ranks in the central government? Why is it that those who rise in the ranks are always sidelined? Be it in Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh.