AJAY BHARDWAJ

Not that it was not expected. The only uncertain factor was how much would be the nosedive for the BJP. The feelers had started coming around much before the elections took place in the three crucial states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. As it comprised heartland of the BJP’s bulwark support, the stakes were too high for the BJP to have compromised. As the results tumbled out one moot question looks straight into the BJP’s eyes is that has prime minister Narendra Modi beginning to lose his mojo? It may look an odd question because the state Assembly elections are not essentially a reflection on the Central leadership. But somewhere, it is. Unless the disconnect is too loud for the party high command to listen to.As it happened during the Vajpayee times.After the BJP’s overwhelming victory in 2003 in these three states, Vajpayee preponed the Lok Sabha elections hoping to reap on the Assembly results in the three states but had to cut a sorry figure when the Lok Sabha Assembly results offered a surprise victory to the Congress.  The chief ministers in the BJP-ruled states had harped on the Modi “charisma” to deliver at the last minute. It was starkly missing all through. The BJP receiving an emphatic drubbing in Hindi heartland and going the extent of biting the dust in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh is a telling commentary not just on the state leadership but in equal measure on the Modi-Shah duo’s ability to sail through the rough storms.

For more news updates Follow and Like us on Facebook