A day after the Supreme Court judgement on Rafale deal, BJP chief Amit Shah had addressed a press conference saying Congress chief Rahul Gandhi mislead the people with his lies. Shah, however, refused to concede if the issue had harmed the party in the three states where the BJP was routed. Pointing out that there was no barometer to gauge if this issue affected the results, he had promised to explain the reasons for the party's poor show after the internal deliberations of the party.
In fact, the polling had happened when the issue of Ram temple was picking up with the Hindutva organisations stepping up the rhetoric. However, the results forced the party to question if the issue helped the party in any manner. On Tuesday, during the BJP's parliamentary party meeting, some MPs from Uttar Pradesh asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh for clarity on the issue of Ram temple.
The results in the recent assembly polls have the BJP worried. Both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh share borders with Gujarat where polls were held exactly a year ago. The Congress had put up a good show in Gujarat, but the BJP managed to convince its supporters to stay within the fold. During the current elections, despite BJP's effective poll machinery, the Congress had outperformed them.
The mood has been somber in the the party, but the leaders are now reposing their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal saying saying the general elections are always contested on different issues than assembly polls. Nonetheless, no one is publicly willing to say that Modi and Shah should take some responsibility for the loss.
The BJP leaders draw hope from the fact that the difference in the vote share of the Congress and the BJP has not been huge in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the two states which have witnessed Hindutva issues being playing the centre stage. Another point discussed is the NOTA votes which have been polled, which otherwise could have helped the BJP. At many places, NOTA votes have been more than the victory margins.
The demoralisation of the BJP workers too has been a worry factor as they could not get the neutral votes converted to party fold.
While it will be important for the BJP to come out with the reasons for the loss, it will equally be important how the party explains the results to its core voters and workers who may be confused on how to deal with the next challenges.
The BJP had won the 2014 elections on the issue of development. The current polls campaign were centered around the Congress and Hindutva more. The BJP may have to find a theme to get voters back to its fold.
The question everyone seems to be wondering these days is will the Central government go populist in the last a few months of its tenure to win back the disenchanted voters?
