Economic Times
29 Dec 2008
Amarnath blesses BJP
by Devesh Kumar, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: Just when it started looking as if the BJP had somehow lost its script for next year’s general election, losing out to its principal
political rival in Delhi and Rajasthan, it has staged a comeback of sorts, putting up its best-ever performance in Jammu and Kashmir.
The saffron-party’s decision to openly back the Amarnath land agitation, using the issue to skillfully play upon the decades-long pent-up feeling of neglect among the people of the Jammu region, saw it leapfrogging to 11 seats, up from a paltry one won by it in 2002. All these victories came from the Jammu region, and were scattered in the Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua and Reasi districts.
The constituencies won by the saffron outfit included Nagrota, Jammu (East), Jammu (West), Reasi, Bani, Basohli, Hiranagar, Marh, Raipur-Domana , R S Pura and Suchetgarh.
Political analysts attributed the BJP’s performance to the role played by it in steering the twomonth long Amarnath land agitation, which culminated in the victory for the agitationists. The Congress’ flip-flop on the row, and the stiff resistance put up by the PDP was adroitly used by the BJP brass to convince the Jammu electorate that it could not get justice from these parties, as well as the National Conference, which were branded as being `` soft-on-the-Valley ,’’ despite the fact Jammu was the main economic powerhouse.
The BJP’s chief electoral plank `` Jammu Ek To Jeete Jammu,’’ in fact, was woven around this theme. The strategy, plus some clever caste arithmetic , paid the party rich dividends. In the three seats falling in the Jammu town, it fielded candidates belonging to a Vaishya (former union minister Chaman Lal Gupta in Jammu-West ), a Brahmin (state president Ashok Khajuria in Jammu-East ) and a Thakur (former state president Nirmal Singh in Gandhinagar). Even though Mr Singh lost to the Congress narrowly in Gandhinagar, the combination worked well, helping the party generate an across-the-board support in the Hindu-majority seats.
Jammu region accounts for 37 seats in the 87-strong assembly. Of these, some 20 are Hindu-majority . The BJP won 11 of these, and finished runners-up in another 13. It lost the Vijaynagar seat by a mere 27 votes. And only Habakadal from this lot was from the Valley.
Having registered its presence in the region, the party would now be expected to champion the cause of Jammu even more aggressively.
The Jammu and Kashmir verdict has come as a morale-booster to the party cadre, which had been forced to lie low after the results of the other state assembly polls were declared. The party would be expected to cite the Jammu outcome as a manifestation of the silent Hindu consolidation taking place behind it.
The big challenge for the BJP is to manage its internal contradiction and address its leadership deficiencies in time for the general election. Relations among its top leaders remains not too comfortable , and in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, its position remains precarious.
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