As the BJP heads towards an upset in the assembly elections, murmurs of dissent have begun in its corridor. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakade was the first one to voice his disagreement with his party.
"I knew we would lose in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh," Kakade told ANI. He said that the loss in Madhya Pradesh came as a surprise. Kakade represents Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha and was elected as an independent candidate and later joined the BJP.
Kakade said the BJP lost the election because it forgot the issue of development that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up in 2014. He also attributed the loss to the BJP's excessive focus on Ram Mandir, statues and name-changing. "I think we forgot the issue of development that Modi took up in 2014. Ram Mandir, statues & name changing became the focus," he said.
The Shiv Sena also expressed its displeasure to the BJP. Shiv Sena spokesperson and the party's Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut said the trends reflect that the BJP's victory chariot has been halted. "This is a clear message and it is the time for us to introspect," Raut told reporters in Parliament complex. Despite being in alliance at the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena shares an uneasy relationship with the BJP. The two parties contested the 2014 Maharashtra polls separately, but later joined hands to form government in the state.
As per latest trends, the BJP is trailing in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh behind the Congress. Madhya Pradesh is witnessing a very close contest between the two parties. In Telangana, the TRS is heading to form a government for the second time and in Mizoram, the MNF has left the ruling Congress far behind in its tally of seats.
