Several parties have been speaking of national elections being held before time, probably in November, along with a clutch of state polls. In that sense, the BJP has come late to the party. The parliamentary board meeting of the principal Opposition party speculatively considered the prospect of a “snap poll” only on Monday and asserted that it was in fighting trim to meet the challenge.
Why the delay on the BJP’s part? Clearly, the party needed time to get over inner schisms caused by Gujarat leader Narendra Modi being pushed to the forefront under the RSS’ guidance. Now that the BJP has declared that “snap polls” could ensue — although this is hardly a proper description for Lok Sabha elections if these are held only six months before time — and that it is ready to go, the message to its ranks is that intra-party divisions have been papered over. The jungle telegraph is meant especially for the dissident variety who follow the likes of L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi — and especially in the states, which will be the site of the contest.
Presumably, the terms of the tactical rapprochement will become evident by and by. But a modicum of unity does appear to have been achieved in the saffron party. For the BJP — battling deep-going inner divisions, a leadership crisis, and the crossing of wires with the RSS (as became clear from Mr Advani’s publicised letter to the party chief during his recent nano-revolt, and his subsequent private audience with the RSS leadership in which he was put in his place) — this is a distinct gain from the point of view of poll preparation.
It is this which has permitted the party to take the battle to the Congress camp. Besides speaking of administrative and policy failures and corruption, the BJP parliamentary board sought to underline that the Congress-led UPA was tottering from within, and for this reason the ruling party was wary of facing Parliament. This is a point worth making for an adversary, for some UPA constituents (e.g. NCP) and outside supporters (e.g. SP, and possibly also RJD if Congress veers towards JD-U in Bihar) can play hot and cold. However, recent developments suggest that the DMK (which had left the UPA) and JD-U (after leaving the NDA) will back the government in Parliament.
For this reason, the UPA government looks pretty secure on the floor of the House, and indeed it is the NDA that has vanished into the blue. But organisationally, the BJP seems in better shape than before.