Taking lesson from Maharashtra and Haryana poll results the State BJP has decided to play cautiously in year-end Jharkhand elections. The party trying to capture nationalism fervour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government abrogated Article 370 of Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) do not want to repeat the Maharashtra and Haryana experiences.
Sources said that the State BJP unit has carried out an internal survey assessing the performance of the sitting MLAs and even ministers in Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ Cabinet.
A senior BJP leader requesting anonymity said, “The party has carried out internal audit of sitting MLAs, which includes ministers too. Those MLAs and ministers failing to meet people’s expectations or are not much popular among the masses will not be considered for ticket this time.” Sources said that the party is unhappy with many sitting MLAs and ministers performance as many MLAs and few ministers face corruption charges leveled by Opposition camp. The BJP leader claimed that sticking to performance has gained momentum after Haryana results, where eight out of 10 ministers in Manohar Lal Khattar’s Cabinet lost the election.
The BJP leader’s statement assumes importance as in both Haryana and Maharashtra the party went to election on nationalism issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah invoking country’s pride by revoking article 370 of the constitution, but despite riding of nationalism issue the party’s performance was not as per 2019 Lok Sabha election results.
In 2019 general elections, NDA won 41 seats (BJP 23 seats, Shiv Sena 18) out of 48 seats, while in Haryana the BJP contesting alone made a clean sweep winning 10 out of 10 seats.
In Maharashtra the NDA combine won 155 seats while in Haryana it won 40 seats six short of majority. Learning lesson from rebel candidates spoiling party’s prospect in two states, the State unit has decided to keep party united.
Moreover, the State BJP unit has not made any commitment in giving tickets to large number of leaders from opposition camp as in Maharashtra and Haryana the party’s prospects was spoiled by rebel candidates.