Lok Sabha elections: BJP battles faction-fighting in state units

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BJP faces challenges within in Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, March 29: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a week ago sent former party vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe to Rajasthan as an election in-charge. Sahasrabuddhe has cordial relations with the former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

The Telangana unit of the BJP is still battling faction-fighting as per local media reports. The Karnataka unit of the BJP is still mired in deep faction-fighting. Factors which worked against the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly elections still seem to be unresolved.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to launch the formal Lok Sabha election campaign from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. But the BJP appears bracing for a challenge on its hands. The faction-fighting in the party ranks needs to be tackled with. The West Bengal unit of the BJP also has own challenge of local leadership squabbling.

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The BJP had lost the Karanpur Assembly by-election in Rajasthan. The loss came soon after the formation of the party-led government. The loss seemingly exposed the lack of electoral management of the incumbent Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. Now, Sahasrabuddhe has a clear task on hand. He must persuade Raje to put her heart in favour of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, said a senior party functionary.

Hyderabad-based media is reporting disquiet in the BJP ranks in Telangana. The faction-fighting within the BJP ranks in Telangana was attributed to the loss in the Assembly elections. The Congress had staged a remarkable turnaround in fortune with Revanth Reddy galvanising the party ranks. Leaders from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi are now largely looking at the Congress as an option in the state.

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The BJP’s gambit of handing over the party affairs to the former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has propped up obvious challenges. Some of the senior leaders of the party are up in arms against Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra Yediyurappa. The faction-fighting in the BJP ranks in Karnataka may prove costly in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress is in a formidable position in Karnataka.

Political observers note that the BJP was without apparent faction-fighting in state units in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had won 303 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The BJP had given the party’s peak performances in 2019. But the coherence within the BJP of 2019 is not visible.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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