BJP’s Bengal, Kerala take: Shrill pitch harm, received Oppn collectively; Covid performed ‘villain’

An “aggressive” marketing campaign towards a preferred native chief which will have backfired, the primacy of native identities and deepening anxieties over the rising Covid curve and its attendant grief and loss: these are among the many elements senior BJP leaders are itemizing as they evaluate their efficiency within the meeting elections the day after the decision.
In the outcomes introduced Sunday, the occasion elevated its tally from three to 77 in West Bengal however fell far wanting its ballot mission of wresting the state from the TMC. While the occasion retained Assam and picked up 4 seats in Tamil Nadu, it suffered a setback in Kerala the place it drew a clean after having opened its account for the primary time with a seat 4 years in the past.

The evaluation additionally factors to criticism within the media and public house over the worsening Covid scenario as “a major reason” for the poor efficiency within the final three phases of polls in West Bengal. In Kerala, occasion leaders mentioned, the aggressive marketing campaign coupled with the state organisation’s failure to behave as a cohesive unit led to the wipeout.
In West Bengal, the occasion underlined its sharp surge because the strongest takeaway moderately than the frustration of a decreased vote share in comparison with 2019.
“We have not lost anything. We have won,” BJP basic secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who has been the occasion’s in-charge in West Bengal since 2015, advised The Indian Express. “Today, in a state where politics was once all about the Left ideology, the BJP has come up as the single credible opposition, removing the Left and the Congress from the scene. It’s an achievement, and the party considers it as a gain.”

Asked about its slide since 2019, Vijayvargiya listed three causes. “First of all, Congress and the Left gave up their space completely to the TMC. Their votes were transferred to the TMC to defeat the BJP. Secondly, the emotional card that Mamata Banerjee played worked very well. From ‘Didi’ in the last elections, she has become ‘Bengal ki Beti’ and it worked in TMC’s favour,” Vijayvargiya admitted.
According to Vijayvargiya, “Covid played a villain role”. “In the last three phases, our performance was not at all good. We could hardly get any seats,” he mentioned.
Sources within the BJP admitted that the “aggression” — the barbs and the mocking by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — towards Banerjee didn’t resonate with the fence-sitters, particularly girls. “People found it offensive to Didi… Mamata’s emotional card, her injured leg and our party’s vicious attack mobilised sympathy for her, and the voters wanted to prove us wrong,” mentioned a frontrunner who was a part of the marketing campaign.
In Kerala, the “general aggression” within the marketing campaign was rejected by voters, leaders mentioned. At least three leaders additionally advised The Indian Express that the absence of a united occasion unit induced its decimation within the state.
As the outcomes grew to become clear, there was a flurry of WhatsApp messages in inside teams blaming the state management, its methods and even fund distribution for candidates for the failure.
“This outcome indicates that the people of Kerala have not accepted the state leadership. The state president (K Surendran, who lost both the constituencies he contested from) had let the minorities, Christians and Muslims, consolidate against the BJP by promising a law against love jihad and by favouring some Christian sects. This groupism, fanned by Surendran, worked against the party,” learn one message.

According to a senior state chief, the choice to herald aggressive Hindutva faces like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath additionally affected the occasion’s prospects. “Yogiji’s presence in Kerala did not go down well with the minorities. In constituencies where Christians could stand with the BJP, things went haywire after his visit. In a state like Kerala, where you cannot win without the backing of at least one minority community, the BJP should have avoided such an aggressive campaign,” the chief mentioned.
However, Union MoS and senior Kerala chief V Muraleedharan maintained that the state adopted the nationwide development of voting for the incumbent authorities. “The Covid situation seems to have scared people and generally favoured continuity in power,” he mentioned.
Rejecting costs of groupism or discrimination in distribution of sources, Muraleedharan mentioned the “Muslim consolidation in favour of the CPI(M) and the LDF” value the BJP. The Union Minister dominated out any modifications within the state management however admitted that the occasion’s assist base has eroded in some key constituencies. “It’s a matter of concern,” he mentioned.