42 THE WEEK • JULY 14, 2019
POLITICS
BJPJanata Dal leaders, Annapurna Devi
and Girinath Singh, joined the BJP.
Devi is now a Lok Sabha member.
“All our opponents have gone into
silence,” said state BJP president Lax-
man Giluwa. “If Lok Sabha elections
are considered, we lead in 63 [of 82]
assembly seats. Th is time we have set
a target of 65-plus seats.”
Modi was in Jharkhand’s capital,
Ranchi, while Shah was in Rohtak,
Hooda’s stronghold, to celebrate
International Yoga Day on June 21.
Th e BJP’s strategy of countering
its opponents appears two-pronged.
Th e party sees merit in marginalising,
rather than decimating, the opposi-
tion. Also, whenever it forayed into
unchartered territories, it has shown
care to assimilate local symbols and
icons, so that it is not perceived as a
party of the Hindi heartland or of the
upper castes.
Th e Goa example is illustrative. In
2017, chief minister Manohar Parri-
kar advocated that the BJP break ties
with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak
Party and go it alone in the assem-
bly polls that year. But the MGP soeroded the BJP’s vote share that the
saff ron party could not get majority.
Th ey had to join hands to form the
government. Now, having lost two
of its legislators to the BJP, the MGP
has been sidelined. “It’s better to
marginalise than fully oppose,” said a
BJP leader.
Th e BJP has also reaped rich
dividends by appropriating regional
icons like Rani Gaidinliu in Na-
galand, Bir Bikram in Tripura, Raja
Suheldev in Uttar Pradesh, Birsa
Munda in Jharkhand and Chhotu
Ram in Haryana. It is now looking to
replicate the strategy in south India.
“We will be celebrating the anni-
versaries of local heroes and freedom
fi ghters, and stress on Telugu asmita
(pride),” said Deodhar. “We are
pushing for publicising Central gov-
ernment advertisements in Telugu so
that Modi’s policies are known here. I
am also learning Telugu.”
Regional parties that have realised
that they cannot take on the BJP have
made peace with it. YSR Congress
has good relations with the BJP. Th e
Biju Janata Dal in Odisha recent-ly pledged support to send a BJP
candidate to the Rajya Sabha. Even
Mamata has held out olive branch-
es. Th e Trinamool recently backed
the Union government in the Rajya
Sabha over a bill concerning Jammu
and Kashmir; Mamata sent a box
of sandesh to Om Birla after he was
elected speaker of the Lok Sabha.
But the let-ups do not mean that
the BJP will not try to enter the space
occupied by its opponents. For now,
the party may be content to play the
marginalisation game, which has
been most evident in the case of the
Congress. BJP leaders no longer use
the ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ rhetoric,
and Modi recently told opposition
parties that the government values
their inputs.
Congress leaders, however, allege
that the government continues to
treat the opposition shabbily, citing
the move to reduce the staff strength
allocated to former prime minister
Manmohan Singh, the denial of
permission to former Assam chief
minister Tarun Gogoi to hold a press
conference in Assam Bhawan in Del-
hi, and the government’s reluctance
to grant the Congress the post of the
leader of opposition.
Th e leadership crisis in the
Congress has not helped the cause
of opposition unity. Th ere is no co-
ordinated attack on the government
both in and outside Parliament, and
unlike in the past, opposition parties
held no meeting to formulate plans
before the budget session. It was
only before the debate in the Rajya
Sabha on the extension of presi-
dent’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir
and the short discussion on elec-
toral reforms, that the parties tried
to work out a common opposition
strategy.
Will that be suffi cient to counter
the BJP? Certainly not. On the con-
trary, it shows that the BJP’s strategy
to disintegrate, rather than eradicate,
the opposition has so far been a
success.
With Soni MishraLOTUS SURGE
Hostilities
between the
BJP and the
Trinamool have
intensifi ed in
West BengalSALIL BERA