National exec meet: BJP bigwigs rejoice RS win, sound poll bugle for UP

Minutes before BJP president Amit Shah landed at Allahabad’s Bamrauli airport, senior BJP party leaders were readying themselves with good news. The leaders and their aides were busy with their phones, making and receiving calls from far flung state capitals — Jaipur, Ranchi, Chandigarh and Lucknow — in particular. The calls had favourably swung the mood in four-star Kanha Shayam Hotel in Allahabad where most senior leaders are staying. At around 6.20 pm on Saturday, BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav received that much awaited call from Ranchi that the BJP had won both the Rajya Sabha seats in state. The party was sure to win Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s seat but winning the second seat was a difficult proposition against a combined opposition candidate JMM-Congress-JVM and others. Poddar couldn’t have defeated Basant Soren, JMM chief Shibu Soren’s younger son, without cross voting from Opposition ranks. After the news came in, the mood among BJP leaders and workers was celebratory. Party leaders then learnt that the BJP had won all four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan. The BJP had three clear seats and Congress had entered the contest by fielding former Union minister and businessman Kamal Morarka for fourth seat. The Congress couldn’t manage additional votes required and all BJP candidates easily sailed through. Party’s general secretary in-charge of Haryana Anil Jain was pacing up and down when counting was held up for some time. He got a call and happily broke the news that BJP has won both the seats. Its first seat was clear but for the second seat the Congress and INLD had jointly put up lawyer RK Anand to challenge BJP-backed Independent media baron Subash Chandra. [caption id=“attachment_2830004” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BJP leaders at the National Executive meet in Allahabad. Image courtesy: @srirambjp[/caption] In Uttar Pradesh, Congress’ Kapil Sibal was ahead of BJP-backed Priti Mahapatra and was set to win on basis of second preference votes but the BJP was taking satisfaction from the fact that Sibal could get only 25 first preference votes when Congress on its own had 29 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. This meant that not all Congress legislators had voted for him and Mayawati didn’t lend BSP’s support to him. The Congress and BJP each had 14 Rajya Sabha members who were retiring. BJP was poised to gain a few seats on account of an increased strength in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Haryana. BJP had taken a bold step by putting extra candidates in four states and thanks to cross voting, it yielded dividend. Even though voting in Rajya Sabha elections are “open”, cross-voting does not make one liable to provisions of Anti-Defection Act. In all these states, the BJP had been able to split rival political party’s rank and it set a joyous confident tone for Amit Shah to hold general secretaries meeting later in the evening. At Allahabad airport, Shah got a victor’s welcome by party workers, a show intended to lift morale of party’s rank and file. Huge hoardings, banners and posters of enthusiastic BJP leaders and their supporters were dotted every part of Allahabad. And even though they vie for space and prominence against each other but all is intended to one singular message — seeking clear majority for BJP in upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Sultanpur MP takes the cake in this banner-poster war, both in number and in variety of message: UP ki Karun Pukar, Abki Bar Bhajapa sarkar, Abki baar 300 paar Given the intra-party equations, Varun Gandhi cannot be BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh but through these hoardings and posters he has made his presence felt and become a talking point before he arrives in Allahabad on Sunday to attend the party meet. While one poster rued the absence of Murli Manohar Joshi, another one had Sanjay Joshi and Shatrughan Sinha along with PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh. The National Executive meet is where BJP sounds the poll bugle for India’s most populous and politically significant state but from the party’s perspective its importance lay somewhere else as well. This is first meet of party’s highest policy making body of over 200 members after it created a history by winning election with two-thirds majority in Assam, opening account in Kerala and polling around 15 votes and significantly increasing its vote share in West Bengal compared to the last assembly polls. Expanding party base is going to be one of the highlights to make a mark in coastal states like Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and other northeastern states. Secondly, it coincides with the ongoing Vikas Parv, second anniversary of Modi government in power.  Thirdly, it comes after a successful five nation tour – Afganistan, Switzerland, Qatar, USA and Mexico. Fourth, it is being held after the BJP somewhat succeeded in positioning itself as challenger to Mulayam Singh Yadav-Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, post the Mathura incident. The party leadership’s point is simple – instill confidence among leaders attending the meet that BJP under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi is not just a resurgent political force but is there for a longer haul on political landscape of India.