It had become customary for prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to make a spectacle of every victory in state elections. The party’s spanking new office in its brief history of existence has witnessed several such moments when PM would make an appearance at the end of counting of votes and shower praises on Amit Shah and his team for resounding victories. Shah, in turn, would give all the credit to the popularity of the prime minister’s able leadership.

The scene was understandably different on December 11 when the counting for the elections in five states was winding up in a wipe out for the BJP in the three key Hindi heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Modi and Shah have not spoken on the poll debacle. The only voice that has emerged from the BJP is that of union minister Nitin Gadkari who reminded his party of the age old saying that a victory has many claimants while defeat is an orphan.

Gadkari, arguably the best performing minister  in the Modi government, is known to speak his mind even though he often runs the risk of being misquoted. He fully understands the perils of opening up his mind.

His remarks after the rout in the three states was wrapped in a smile but were seen as the first voice of dissent in the party against the party leadership. Some even felt that these weren’t his words but sentiments of the RSS and a vast section of the BJP though the minister claimed he did not criticise the leadership.

The Maharashtra leader is known to be a blue eyed boy of the RSS.

His statements are never viewed in isolation.

Within the BJP circles, it is an open fact that the RSS has never been comfortable with the style of functioning of Amit Shah.

The fact that the BJP president has not taken responsibility of the defeats when he was hailed as Chanakaya after the victories  has raised the accountability question. Nitin Gadkari is probably the only leader apart from Rajnath Singh who would have got away after demanding accountability.

The outcome of the assembly elections in these states has put a question mark on the invincibility of PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Prior to the debacle, they were perceived to be on a roll to walk away with success in 2019 like a hot knife through butter. That perception has been shattered.

Many scenarios have since emerged forcing an alteration in BJP’s internal dynamics. In case the BJP falls below 200 Lok Sabha seats, it will bring many new faces in the picture to lead the coalition. Gadkari will certainly be one of those faces with whom even allies would be comfortable to work with. The other being Rajnath Singh who has managed to keep a safe position till now.

That the BJP is on shaky ground is also reflected from the way the party gave into the demands of Ram Vilas Paswan in Bihar. The BJP had already left the turf for Nitish Kumar to play a major role and ceded ground to Paswan much beyond his actual political weight.

In case of a hung parliament, the face to lead the ruling coalition should be acceptable to all the allies.

There was already a demand from within the BJP-RSS circle of making Gadkari the PM. The minister was quick to nip the talk in the bud.

Gadkari has won admiration even from the opponents for his performance. He has been seen as a minister who is delivering. He might be in denial currently, but he will be one of the leaders in the race for prime ministership in 2019 if the verdict is not decisively in favour of Narendra Modi.