Opinion Inside Track by Coomi Kapoor: Patchwork Strategy

The truce between BJP and BRS is to fight the common enemy, the Congress. In the bargain, the money laundering charge against KCR’s daughter K Kavitha is likely to be put in cold storage.

coomi kapoor writes on bjp's strategy for 2024 lok sabha polls, its closeness with brs, and more

The BJP’s recent policy of grabbing new faces without considering the consequences of smashing old relationships may backfire at the polls. (Express file photo by Amit Mehra)

Coomi Kapoor

July 16, 2023 05:59 PM IST First published on: Jul 16, 2023 at 07:45 AM IST

The BJP has overhauled its southern electoral strategy after recent poll surveys indicated that the Congress is on the rebound in Telangana and is close on the heels of K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS. Recently, Amit Shah met KT Rama Rao (KTR), the son of KCR. KTR also interacted with Rajnath Singh. The truce between the two parties is to fight the common enemy, the Congress. In the bargain, the money laundering charge against KCR’s daughter K Kavitha is likely to be put in cold storage.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu is firming up his alliance with the BJP. The BJP’s link person in dealing with Naidu is D Purandeswari, who was last week appointed as the party’s chief in Andhra Pradesh. She is best suited for the job since Naidu is her sister’s husband, even though NT Rama Rao’s extended family has a history of fractious relationships. The TDP and BJP hope to reach an understanding with Pawan Kalyan’s JSP, which represents the Kapu community, while the TDP is the party of the Kammas. The BJP contributes little other than the Modi factor.

Not Sangh Culture

Differences between RSS members and key BJP leaders are seldom aired in public. But recently, the usually mild-mannered BJP president JP Nadda chastised an influential Sangh representative in the party for patronising a maverick journalist, who was openly critical of Nadda in various fora, including his own YouTube channel.

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The scribe went so far as to append the disparaging term ghadda (ditch) to Nadda’s name. Nadda chided the functionary for promoting the journalist and permitting him to describe himself on TV channels as an “authority on the BJP”. Nadda noted it was not part of Sangh culture to unilaterally promote such “wild card individuals” and that it showed “poor judgement”. The gentleman admonished appeared suitably chastened and acknowledged his error.

Smash and Grab

The BJP’s recent policy of grabbing new faces without considering the consequences of smashing old relationships may backfire at the polls. In Maharashtra, there are major rumblings in the Eknath Shinde-led Sena over the surprise arrival of old rival Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM. In Telangana, with the BJP high command doing a U-turn and cosying up to KCR, several disillusioned recent BJP recruits are defecting back to their former parties.

In West Bengal, TMC defectors such as Arjun Singh and Mukul Roy have already quit the BJP. Even veteran parliamentarian Dinesh Trivedi who resigned from the TMC in 2021, sacrificing five years of a TMC Rajya Sabha seat to join the BJP, finds that he too has been left in the lurch. The RS seat promised to Trivedi has been offered instead to Ananta Rai, a self-styled “Maharaj” and separatist leader from Cooch Behar. And the BJP did not have the courtesy to even inform Trivedi. Whatever votes Rai wins for the BJP on his home turf will be countered many times over in south Bengal, because of his unpopular demand for a separate state of north Bengal.

Politics & Cricket

It is hardly coincidental that in the World Cup schedule this year, the four key contests — the opening match, the final, the match between rivals India and Pakistan, and England and Australia — will all be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the home town of Jay Shah, BCCI general secretary and Amit Shah’s son.

Politics and cricket is a common cocktail. Ravi Bishnoi who played for his home state Rajasthan till last year, got caught in the crossfire between cricket and politics. Vaibhav Gehlot, the Rajasthan Cricket Association president and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s son, wanted him to accompany Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Bishnoi declined fearing the wrath of Jay Shah but found himself out of the Rajasthan Ranji trophy. He shifted to Gujarat for the current season and was picked for the West Indies tour. Similarly, two other promising players from UP, Piyush Chawla and RP Singh, migrated to Gujarat in the hope of greener pastures.

One politician who successfully straddles rival camps is Congress MP Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice president, who still manages to dominate UP cricket, without CM Yogi Adityanath objecting.

Making up her mind

After a gap of four years, Mayawati tweeted birthday greetings to old rival Akhilesh Yadav. She also seems to have changed her tune on UCC and is now critical of the proposal. Asked whether she would similarly reconsider her views on distancing herself from Opposition unity, she admitted frankly that she would take a call after the upcoming Assembly polls in the cow belt.