Assessing BJP’s chances

While stating that the Karnataka polls would be the BJP’s gateway to the south, BJP president Amit Shah seems to have forgotten the fact that the BJP was in power in the State earlier but botched it up because of a corrupt administration (OpEd page, ‘The Wednesday Interview’, April 25). The party’s continued dependence on B.S. Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers may not go down well with a discerning urban voter.

The after-effects of demonetisation and the GST cannot be wished away. Mr. Shah’s assertion of not having an alliance with the JD(S) after the elections can only be taken with a pinch of salt given the way the BJP has come to power in many States after “making adjustments” with adversaries. The interviewer has failed to solicit any response from Mr. Shah on the economic situation or the contentious Cauvery issue, which should matter more to the people of the State than dwelling on the effect of caste equations on the elections.

V. Subramanian,

Chennai

Optimism is undoubtedly a virtue in politics but undue or misplaced optimism might hardly yield dividends. For the BJP, the gateway opened much earlier but its tenure in 2008 was marked by corruption. Infighting too ruined the party’s prospects. Pre-poll surveys, for what they are worth, point to a hung Assembly, so the best possible scenario would be for the BJP to once again have a tie-up with the JD(S). Karnataka was the only State in the south that opened its doors to the BJP but where it squandered the mandate. The BJP’s chances of making an impression on voters on its own in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are remote as it is not even a marginal player here. So Mr. Shah and his party have a Herculean task ahead; mere rhetoric is just rhetoric.

C.V. Aravind,

Bengaluru