Way back in the 1960s and 1990s when Biju Patnaik was Chief Minister, he made sure no State-level big party figure would ever show up at small ‘local self-government’ elections even if the ruling party was doubtful about popularity and victory. Today, everything has gone haywire. Panchayat elections witness political biggies camping in remote villages for days on end to garner votes. As is popularly known, Biju Patnaik even hated to inaugurate big-budget bridges, civil structures and highways saying top-level leaders lose image and credibility if they rushed in to show up and show off at insignificant events. Such things are best opened by community leaders,whom locals recognise and adore. As per standard norms, local self-government officials are to be chosen from among popular people’s leaders, who have no affiliation to recognised political parties. But this culture has badly eroded over time as vote-bank politics has superseded all norms, ethics and standard practices to ensure political supremacy through election victories.
Lately, political parties have ganged up, the way they do to have salaries and perks raised sky high and be able to hide information on criminal antecedents, personal property and educational qualification. Similarly, they get ethical seniors removed from the fold only to be able to ignore laid-down restrictions to fight local-level elections to choose leaders for urban civic bodies and rural Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Until late, under no circumstances or in any situation did colossally-huge leaders of a popular national Government ever descend on location to influence voters to win small civic elections of a city. Unfortunately, by now, every human activity has become heavily politicised and no election is considered too small to ignore. The BJP has just begun a horrible tradition of involving top national leaders in elections where only popular, apolitical neighbourhood guys are expected to be chosen.
The Modi-Shah duo is crazy about all electoral battles, no matter at what level. Allies and admirers say that gives a chance to test own party strength and create new allies or edge out difficult ones; hence, the involvement, which is difficult to buy. The sole objective is evidently to keep expanding the horizons of presence and influence. Undoubtedly, the passionate desire is to occupy the whole country politically; and, therefore, an ordinary local corporation election in Hyderabad had to witness the parading of the biggest saffron stars. The 1st December election for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had attracted such BJP luminaries as Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Prakash Javadekar, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Tejasvi Surya, chief of the BJP youth wing, to camp and keep coaxing and cajoling the electorate to vote for the BJP. Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh has not been captured by the saffron brigade so far and not likely to be controlled by it soon enough. That is precisely the reason why national leaders had landed in Hyderabad to make a big beginning keeping in view the general elections to be held in less than a year’s time. The BJP was hell-bent on taking over the south by opening up a good account in the Hyderabad polls.
Only around the same time, Shah had landed in Chennai to have some tension diminished with ally AIADMK. He had to forge a solid partnership to capture Tamil Nadu. He is a master enticer with enormously tempting baits. He green-lighted nearly 70,000 crores of new projects as Tamil Nadu votes next year. If the two big southern States are trounced to change hue to saffron, the West Bengal elections to be held in a few months will easily move Bengali hearts to dislodge Mamata Banerjee. And once in there, the BJP shall not easily let go of the eastern State that has never ever tasted the intoxicating BJP nectar that hooks people so easily.
Further, it would be nice to know that Shah and his team of biggies know that no matter how much one maligns AIMIM boss Owaisi, the cunning lawyer politician cannot be ignored at all. He is widely known as an efficient vote cutter who may not bring his political outfit to rule but can have big parties like the BJP in trouble with sizeable loss of votes.
The BJP biggies did not feel pinched once while communalising the election atmosphere in Hyderabad because they knew too well that the sly technique would yield the desired results. They had realised that if the Hyderabad experiment was successful, the saffron think-tank and strategists would apply the same formula in Bengal, where Muslims constitute 30% of the population determining 100 of the nearly-300 seats. This 100-seat community has been the traditional supporters of Mamata Banerjee and is unlikely to change stance unless dramatic events occur to put her in bad light. In Hyderabad, the campaign speeches seeking to consolidate the Hindu votes were specifically aimed at Asaduddin Owaisi who had proven his significance by winning five seats in far-off Bihar elections just recently.
The RSS seems to be confident that the BJP is now the only pole of Indian politics that has comfortably maximised its gains in north India. So, to take over the whole of India, it must start concentrating on the rather difficult south, east and northeast States. The TRS, which often sides with the BJP in Parliament, is beginning to make out what benefits can be availed by working in tune with the saffron brigade. So, he is happy to be tilting towards the BJP.
Though the BJP biggies’ camping in Hyderabad during the civic elections have gone down well with the ordinary masses, the hardcore BJP supporters have become scared that the party is not as potent or popular because colossal creatures were seen struggling in a city to win ordinary elections. That indicates the BJP is not as popular as made out to be by its loudmouths.
Lastly, Odisha is the only invincible bastion that does not worry at all about the BJP. The sole reason is the local BJP outfit incapable of making even the tiniest kills anywhere. Political experts say the BJP will have to wait for another two terms to set foot in Odisha and take command if only Naveen Patnaik feels bored and passes the baton to the hands of fools, which is very unlikely. The voters strongly believe that without Naveen, the State will be grabbed by unworthy political creatures that have no other skills than those that help one rob the masses by daylight.