The State BJP that missed the race for forming the Government in the State in 2012 almost by a whisker keeps on facing drubbing election after election, excluding the 2014 lok Sabha elections when it swept, winning all the five seats with huge margins, riding the crest of Modi waves. The observers feel the saffron party’s electoral predicament continues with its State leadership refusing to take lessons and to go for course correction. The party tasted defeat in five Assembly bypolls in less than two years.
The BJP’s electoral defeats in two Assembly bypolls for Sitarganj and Dharchula Assembly by-elections were understandable as the ruling Congress had fielded former and present Chief Ministers Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat respectively. But the blatant intra-party bickering seemed to have cost the saffron party dear for the bypolls in Someshwar (Almora) and Doiwala (Haridwar) Assembly segments which had fallen vacant after party’s stalwarts — Ajay Tamta and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank — had been elected to the lok Sabha from Almora-Pithoragarh and Haridwar Parliamentary constituencies respectively with huge margins in last year’s general elections.
Now, BJP suffering another setback has further strengthened the position of the Chief Minister Harish Rawat in his party as well as in the governance. Interestingly, Chief Minister Rawat when asked to react on his party’s spectacular win was quick to take a jibe at BJP, dubbing it as practising negative brand of politics on Wednesday.
Resentment within the saffron ranks that has been smouldering long is likely to come out in the open. A section of the party’s rank and file is convinced that the State party leadership has not taken enough pains to ensure representation of the party in the Narendra Modi Government. The observers opine that the State BJP leadership is befuddled, wondering how they can stem the tide with the next Assembly election slated in 2017.