Shaken by internal surveys, MP BJP banks entirely on 'Modi magic'

SUNDEEP POURANIK

Bhopal June 18 (IANS) The BJP, which has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for almost two decades, is leaving no stone unturned to counter the impact of anti-incumbency in the upcoming state Assembly elections.

In the last two decades, the Congress has ruled the state barely for 15 months. This is the reason why the saffron party is facing a strong anti-incumbency in the state and is mulling to contest the elections by keeping Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face in the front.

Even the recent internal surveys were not encouraging for the party, and thus it is entirely banking on the 'Modi magic' to diminish the impact of anti-incumbency.

The interference of BJP's national team is continuously increasing in the state. National leaders are touring the state to interact with various sections to assess the ground situation.

The visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party President J.P. Nadda along with other prominent national leaders will see a rise in the coming days.

Prime Minister Modi will visit Bhopal on June 27 and is likely to have a day halt in tribal-dominated Shahdol.

The BJP is trying to woo the tribal voters through the Prime Minister's visit.

Decisions such as the Prime Minister's visit to Madhya Pradesh on Tribal Pride Day, naming a railway station in Bhopal after Rani Kamlapati belonging to the tribal community, and now Modi's visit to Shahdol show that the saffron party giving prominence to tribal voters.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP suffered a major loss in the tribal belt as out of 47 seats, the BJP could win only 16 seats while the Congress bagged 30 seats. Overall, the tribal vote played an important role in keeping the BJP away from power.

The BJP is trying to strengthen its hold among tribals.

In 2018, out of 230 assembly seats in the state, Congress won 114 seats while the BJP bagged 109 seats.

With elections drawing near, Congress leaders have intensified their attacks on Prime Minister Modi.

Abbas Hafeez, Vice President of Congress' media wing, says that in whichever state elections are held, "the Prime Minister is seen in the role of the Publicity Minister. The same happened in Karnataka, but the public had made up its mind and thrown the BJP out of power. The same is going to happen in Madhya Pradesh as well. No matter how many visits Prime Minister Modi makes, the people of the state have made up their minds to oust the BJP from power".

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi says, "Narendra Modi is a matter of pride for the BJP organisation, a politician like him is leading us. As far as the face is concerned, the face of the BJP is the symbol of a lotus. The election will be fought on the same symbol, the leadership is of the Prime Minister and the issue of the election will be development."

Political analysts believe that the Assembly elections are very important for both the political parties.

The BJP is not getting good feedback from the party regarding the state government, so the party is trying to keep the face of the Prime Minister forward and contest on the issue of Hindutva, which can benefit the party in the state. This is the reason that along with the national leadership, visits of Prime Minister Modi are continuously increasing in the state.