The muted enthusiasm of BJP leaders during the party's Foundation Day celebrations recently gives the impression that the party is finding difficulty in balancing the demands of an unbending JD(U)and calls from the party cadre to name Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. Is the party unsure of going to the hustings aloneIJ With the Congress-led UPA unable to provide good governance, it is a shame that even the Opposition fights shy of coming up with a solid political alternative and agenda.
As things stand today, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is in splendid isolation; the left is back to the rough street and the Dravidian parties are busy fighting succession issues within. In the Hindi heartland, the never-ending spats between Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav hardly give them time for national issues. The prospects for 2014 are bleak. The BJP's pragmatic handling of the Modi issue could dramatically win it electoral friends. Karnataka could well be the party’s first stop-over to New Delhi.