I always wonder why BJP is the main opposition party or the largest political party with extensive internal democracy. Why communist ideology could not reach the masses although we had more poor than Hindus in this country.
I somehow feel that the main reason behind this phenomenon is the difference in their leadership. The BJP top brass works hard and believes in coming out of their comfort zones. It is sometimes amusing to see BJP's national leaders spending umpteen amount of time in Kerala and West Bengal. They know that they may not win a single seat. Moreover, their party organization is also non existant. Still their entire top brass including their leaders in parliament, party president, senior members including the likes of Advani and a plethora of junior leaders are camping on ground. RSS is anyway working at full throttle. This is nothing but political investment to carve a place of your own in both these states.
Not long ago, Sushma Swaraj took up a losing battle against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary, Karnataka and Bhupen Hazarika fought a similar battle in Assam. Today there is a BJP government in Karnataka and Bellary is its stronghold. Similarly, BJP has the audacity to fight on its own in Assam and is also expected to do well.
Compare this with Bihar elections held sometimes back. Left used to be a strong force throughout with some outstanding leaders in its fold. It was the only rallying point for the educated middle classes till the early 90s. It used to dominate the legislative council elections through teachers and graduate constituencies.
Still Left leaders were seldom seen on the ground in the recent elections. Except for a few constituencies like Purnea where son of the former CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar, was fighting on a CPM ticket (more in line with a congress culture), left leadership was found completely absent. Similarly, if we observe elections in the other states e.g. Rajasthan, MP and even UP, Left leadership believes in literally giving a walk over. We may wonder why Brinda Karat could not fight against Mamta Banerjee in the current elections.
There are times when personality driven politics overrides an ideologically driven cadre based politics. This is happening in West Bengal in the current elections. Left may be reduced to rubble as a political entity in bengal and its ideology may further be alienated at the national level. Such a loss for the Indian leftists is a sad story when a large part of the world is talking about an inclusive growth and government's role in the economy.
Alas! Left would have created a platform for themselves in the other states. BJP has assiduously carved a place for itself in Karnataka and Assam today. No wonder, it may become a strong force in Kerala and West Bengal in the times to come. At that point, even a loss in Gujarat may be compensated. This is a big achievement in an era when the right wing politics is losing its ground elsewhere.
I somehow feel that the main reason behind this phenomenon is the difference in their leadership. The BJP top brass works hard and believes in coming out of their comfort zones. It is sometimes amusing to see BJP's national leaders spending umpteen amount of time in Kerala and West Bengal. They know that they may not win a single seat. Moreover, their party organization is also non existant. Still their entire top brass including their leaders in parliament, party president, senior members including the likes of Advani and a plethora of junior leaders are camping on ground. RSS is anyway working at full throttle. This is nothing but political investment to carve a place of your own in both these states.
Not long ago, Sushma Swaraj took up a losing battle against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary, Karnataka and Bhupen Hazarika fought a similar battle in Assam. Today there is a BJP government in Karnataka and Bellary is its stronghold. Similarly, BJP has the audacity to fight on its own in Assam and is also expected to do well.
Compare this with Bihar elections held sometimes back. Left used to be a strong force throughout with some outstanding leaders in its fold. It was the only rallying point for the educated middle classes till the early 90s. It used to dominate the legislative council elections through teachers and graduate constituencies.
Still Left leaders were seldom seen on the ground in the recent elections. Except for a few constituencies like Purnea where son of the former CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar, was fighting on a CPM ticket (more in line with a congress culture), left leadership was found completely absent. Similarly, if we observe elections in the other states e.g. Rajasthan, MP and even UP, Left leadership believes in literally giving a walk over. We may wonder why Brinda Karat could not fight against Mamta Banerjee in the current elections.
There are times when personality driven politics overrides an ideologically driven cadre based politics. This is happening in West Bengal in the current elections. Left may be reduced to rubble as a political entity in bengal and its ideology may further be alienated at the national level. Such a loss for the Indian leftists is a sad story when a large part of the world is talking about an inclusive growth and government's role in the economy.
Alas! Left would have created a platform for themselves in the other states. BJP has assiduously carved a place for itself in Karnataka and Assam today. No wonder, it may become a strong force in Kerala and West Bengal in the times to come. At that point, even a loss in Gujarat may be compensated. This is a big achievement in an era when the right wing politics is losing its ground elsewhere.
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