BJP National President Nitin Nabin’s three day visit to Uttarakhand will have acquainted him with the issues the party is facing in the state. Even though he must have been thoroughly briefed regarding the political culture of Uttarakhand, he will have experienced for himself the issues that need to be addressed to consolidate the BJP’s hold. Overall, the reports about his interactions with MPs, Ministers, MLAs and party activists have been positive. He reinforced the central leadership’s support for the present organisational structure, putting at rest speculation about the impact of infighting within the ranks. Above all, it was made clear that the coming assembly elections would be contested under the leadership of CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Even as the BJP President’s tour prepared the party for the overall strategic way forward, the main opposition party, the Congress, is seen to be struggling to get its act together. A visit of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is forthcoming to generally raise party morale, but the preparations for the event have only shown up the deficiencies within the party organisation. While factionalism is natural within democratic institutions, the various groups need to be harnessed by the leadership to the common cause. At the present, there is also lack of clarity within the local leadership and the cadre on whether the focus has to be on pleasing the electorate or cultivating the patronage of the Gandhi family.
The truth is that crafting unity within the party is a nigh impossible task. The struggle will be to discover how every aspiring leader can manage a ticket for the elections. While there is no doubt that there is a committed support base for the party in the state, it is the personal clout of candidates that will see them through. As such, the selection of candidates remains the major challenge. Much will depend on the feedback that state in-charge Kumari Selja – who has been around for enough time – can provide to the central leadership.
Rahul Gandhi, at best, can set the agenda for the election and will naturally focus on issues such as the Ankita Bhandari case, ill-treatment of minorities, unemployment, the numerous paper leaks at the central level, etc. Considering the fact that the primary vote-getter for the BJP is PM Modi, he will attempt to cast himself as the viable alternative. For all of this to work, however, there will have to be sufficient anti-incumbency in the state to take advantage of and that remains the big question.
