It’s a wakeup call for the BJP, post the AAP sweep which is being witnessed in Delhi today. Many observers and supporters of the BJP have time and again opined that state units of the party need to decentralize from the national scene. There must be an organic growth of regional leaders who can pose a formidable challenge to other regional satraps. Until the state units of BJP are revamped, the party will not be able to break the trend of losing consecutive state elections, as banking on the popularity of PM Modi and Amit Shah is no longer reaping local benefits for the saffron party.
One state unit which needs an immediate revamp is that of Delhi. The Delhi BJP state unit is in dire need of a strong leader, and the current state president is far from being perceived as a leader, leave alone a strong one. Manoj Tiwari, an inefficient TV personality which has been paraded around as the Delhi chief needs to be sacked, and sacked immediately.
There are a few reasons why BJP failed to move beyond a single digit show once again in the national capital’s assembly. First was the myth that Manoj Tiwari could woo the Purvanchali segment of voters. If the current data is anything to go by, it is clear that Purvanchalis have not sided with the saffron party like it would have wanted them to. But who can blame them?
Had Manoj Tiwari been a sincere leader, the BJP could have easily won the Purvanchali vote. However, the man is a former Bigg Boss star, who was thrashed by Dolly Bindra while at it. The Purvanchali voter simply feels no connect with Tiwari, who has always been seen indulging in clown-like behaviour for the better part of his professional career.
The Purvanchali voter would have connected better with a person who rose from the grassroots, instead of being air-dropped from the height of his career into politics. He simply has no impact among his own people, as such, how could anyone expect him to win over other caste denominations and communities?
The second major factor which dented the saffron party’s electoral prospects was the alienation of the Punjabi community. It is no secret that Punjabis form a major chunk of Delhi’s electorate. For anybody to think that an individual like Tiwari could win over Punjabis would be a gross miscalculation. BJP’s unfair clinging on to Purvanchalis, to the extent that the Punjabis didn’t see even one strong leader from their community representing them has indeed worked wonders for Arvind Kejriwal.
The Punjabi community could have very well led the BJP to a resounding victory, had a Punjabi leader been projected as a CM candidate. Which also brings us to the fact that fighting a faceless election against an all-pervading Arvind Kejriwal cost the BJP dearly. Had they projected a leader like Meenakshi Lekhi, for instance, rest assured, the party wouldn’t be in single digits as it is now.
The disconnect of party cadre with a leader like Manoj Tiwari worked against the BJP as well. While the cadre, under the leadership of Amit Shah and JP Nadda put up a formidable fight, one cannot help but think how the results would have been had the party projected a strong and decisive leader as the CM candidate. While the cadre feels strongly for the party’s central leadership, the same cannot be definitely said about the state leadership or the lack of it. Kejriwal, on the other hand, had his entire cadre standing by him firmly. Of course, this is not to discount the efforts put in by the BJP cadre, but they simply did not know who to stand for at the local level.
Finally, the lack of appeal which Manoj Tiwari exudes across caste and community lines is really what cost the BJP dearly. At a time when the party needed a formidable challenger to Kejriwal, Manoj Tiwari simply did not look like a leader who Delhi would want as its Chief Minister. Was there any fanfare around Manoj Tiwari like there is for Kejriwal? Absolutely not. And that is exactly what the BJP needed. A local leader to bank on. Now that Manoj Tiwari has proven to be worthless, the BJP would be well advised to send him off immediately.