Is BJP Able To Withstand Election Challenges Under JP Nadda?

BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda is known for his meticulous planning and religious execution of events, which in turn have significant impacts on the endeavors he undertakes. The elections he helmed over the last three years stand as a testament to these traits. Since he was enthroned as the BJP president in 2020, Nadda has led eight assembly elections, retaining power in three important states: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujrat.

In Goa and Karnataka, the BJP has become the largest party with 20 and 120 seats, respectively, while in Bihar and West Bengal, it has become the second and third largest parties, respectively. In Himachal Pradesh, the party was ousted out of power, winning only 25 seats.

In this scenario, the leadership of Jagat Prakash Nadda is being tested during the election results of 5 states—Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana—released on December 3, given that the party had to relinquish its power to the Congress party in Karnataka, where the election was held in May 2023. Consequently, the BJP posed a huge fight in the five-state elections with vivid strategies.

In Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana, the BJP was trying to overhaul the incumbent government while in Madhya Pradesh, the party fought to cling to power. So, the strategies rendered had been different. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP raised allegations against Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claiming that Baghel has received illegal payments of Rs. 508 crores from the controversial Mahadev betting app.

The BJP has also alleged that the Congress government is involved in a coal levy scam, in which coal mining companies were allegedly forced to pay a levy to the government in exchange for favorable treatment. The BJP has also alleged other scams, such as the Narva, Garua, Ghurwa, and Badi Yojana, a government scheme to revive traditional water bodies, alleging that funds under the scheme have been misused.

J.P. Nadda accused the Congress of being the epitome of “loot” and “deception” at an election rally in the Pathalgaon constituency of Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh. In Rajasthan, the BJP played with similar corruption cards, including the paper leak scam, where the state witnessed the past decade’s biggest paper leak scandal.

The question papers for the competitive exam to fill the teacher’s vacancy had been leaked, and around 16 million candidates were affected. The BJP also tried to exploit the rivalry between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

“Is it not true that Rajasthan is now at the number one spot in terms of corruption, atrocities against women, religious appeasement, and atrocities against Dalits and backward classes?” News agency ANI quoted BJP president JP Nadda as saying this while addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Dausa.

In Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP is the ruling party, JP Nadda attacked Congress, saying “there is a model of the Congress party, which is a ‘laapata model’ (missing model). During their (Congress) tenure, water supply, development, electricity, roads, and everything else was missing.”

However, in Telangana, JP Nadda coined corruption and dynastic politics at a single blow, aiming at both rivalries, the BRS, and the Congress. “The energetic atmosphere in Kukatpally says that Telangana has decided to vote out corruption and dynastic politics,” he said on social media platform X.

“The people of Telangana have a firm belief that it is only under the leadership of Hon. PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji that their welfare, especially that of women, youth, and farmers, is possible,” he said.

As an ace leader, JP Nadda has successfully hurled darts at the opposition parties, but whether they hit the target can only be known on December 3.