BJP doesn’t want the repetition of 2015 in 2016. Year 2015 began with Delhi disaster and culminated in BJP biting the dust in Bihar.
The 2015 sullied the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With his stunning victory in 2014 election Modi gave BJP a new winning mantra NaMo- at least many in BJP thought that way in 2014. This NaMo mantra caused delusions of Akhanda Bharat in a section of Modi fans. But, the passing year seems to have created doubts in the minds of some senior leaders over the efficacy of mantra NaMo in leading the party to victory in the next round of Assembly election in 2016.Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to polls in June 2016. These states have never favored BJP and old guard doesn’t want to lose more battles relying heavily on the NaMo.
In the backdrop of 2015 experience, an influential section in the BJP is said to be wary of contesting the elections in these states with NaMo mantra. They are arguing, according to sources in the party, against using Modi-Shah combine as mascot of the party in these states. The leaders are said to have reminded the RSS, the command centre of the BJP, what happened to the party when Modi-Shah duo was promoted as sole winning combination in Bihar.
They are said to have suggested the RSS against facing these election with Modi picture alone as was done in Bihar. ” The less we use the Modi portraits in the election, the better,” is what they are said to have suggested. Because losing these tough states strengthens the impression created by Delhi and Bihar that NaMo lost his winning charisma. So, this section of party leaders are in favor of keeping these states free of Modi influence. They are lobbying for reviving the pre-Modi era type of BJP campaign and dispensing with Modi-centric politics.
The party is planning to put the idea to practice in Assam first. Unlike in Bihar, the BJP wants to promote chief ministerial candidate for Assam. The sources indicated that union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal is likely to be promoted as chief ministerial candidate. This is beginning of the end of Modi style campaign. Because, Modi ran the campaign without naming the chief ministerial candidate in Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar.
Modi baiters in the party argue that the defeat of BJP under Modi leadership is not mere loss to the Saffron party but it is leading to the consolidation of the anti-BJP forces. That’s the worry of the party.