AAP eyes Punjab, Bihar test for BJP

New Delhi: The BJP’s shock drubbing in the Delhi polls is likely to make the saffron party revisit its strategy for the Bihar Assembly polls due later this year. With the Delhi verdict indicating the Narendra Modi wave may be beginning to fade, the BJP may find Bihar a tough electoral ground amid a consolidation of the JD(U)-RJD ranks along with their alliance with the Congress.

The AAP will also now sets its eyes on Punjab, that is due to hold Assembly polls in 2017. The AAP has four Lok Sabha MPs from the state, and is planning to step up its presence there as the gap between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal appears to be growing.

The Delhi verdict has shown the BJP was outwitted in a bipolar election, as the Congress votebank largely shifted to the AAP.

The NDA had swept the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar in a multi-cornered contest. But the NDA could run into a formidable Janata Parivar block, as the JD(U) and RJD are likely to expedite their merger after the Delhi verdict. That the merged entity will contest the Bihar polls in an alliance with the Congress is a foregone conclusion.

While JD(U) members were demoralised after their electoral decimation in the Lok Sabha polls, party leaders now believe they have breathing space and can mobilise the support for a fightback.

Incidentally, the BJP in the recent days had been propping up the Bihar chief minister, Mr Jitan Ram Manjhi, and encouraging fence sitters in the JD (U) to rebel against senior party leader Mr Nitish Kumar. “Delhi drubbing will surely make the BJP revisit the Bihar strategy amid the current fluid political situation. The BJP should not be seen becoming a party to the Manjhi led government and earn anti-incumbency against itself,” said a senior Bihar BJP leader.

“The message from Delhi verdict is clear and that, the there should not be split of the non-BJP space. Once the current political impasse is cleared, efforts will be made to speed up the merger process of the JD (U) and RJD,” said a senior JD (U) functionary.

However, the BJP apparently wary of the consolidation of opponents is banking on Manjhi to further divide the ranks within the JD (U). “Manjhi is now expelled from the JD (U) and enjoys support of a few other MLAs within the JD (U). Therefore, the split within the JD (U) is not ruled out and there is a possibility of another political outfit taking shape in Bihar, which may attract those leaders who are not happy with the proposed merger process,” said the BJP functionary.