The BJP has been facing a succession of embarrassments recently, with Prashant Kishore’s bypoll victory in its stronghold of Bankipur, Bihar, being the latest. The success of the Cockroach Janta Party protest in obtaining the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, then Union Education Minister, has been another setback. At the same time, the resignations of star performers like K Annamalai and Shehzad Poonawala are also indicators of an internal unravelling. And, of course, the theft of donations, particularly from the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, has provided major ammunition to the opposition. (The inability of opposition leaders to take proper advantage of the situation is another matter.)
It must be noted that this is how democracy functions. The BJP’s momentum in power is running down owing to the law of diminishing returns. It is taking continuously greater effort to stay at the same place. This was witnessed in the last Lok Sabha elections when the party could not get a majority of its own. As such, the focus should be on achieving its larger political objectives during the present term so that a base may be built for a future comeback. Being a proper and structured organisation, it can plan for the longer term.
The factor to be particularly noted is what is emerging as the challenging force. Neither Prashant Kishore, nor the present day hero, Abhijeet Dipke, have emerged from the traditional parties that are presently in the opposition. Kishore, in particular, has charted his own path over a long period of time and has made his objective clear from the beginning. Eventually, he did manage to make a spectacular entry into the formal structure of power. This is in contrast to the opportunistic arrival of Dipke.
It may be noted, as BJP’s Amit Malviya has pointed out, that it was mostly the votebank of the RJD that shifted to Prashant Kishore. If new alternatives are emerging, there is an even greater challenge to the existing opposition. A case in point is the victory of the new set-up, TVK, in Tamil Nadu, that not just got rid of the ruling DMK, but also cancelled the traditional opposition.
It is not as if this is not being recognised by politicians such as Rahul Gandhi, who tried his best to stay in the limelight during the Cockroach protest. The drama being presently witnessed in Parliament is part of this. It is not just the BJP that is under challenge, it is also the opposition. Whoever keeps up with the transition will eventually come out on top.
