The BJP has to accept the fact that they are no longer strong at the grassroots. There is an urgent need to reorganize and revive the party structure as their veterans are slowly fading with no visible second rung of leadership to take on the baton. The stalwarts of the past which carried the legacy of the saffron brigade have slowly but steadily fallen out. The last election was a classic case where the likes of Rajendra Arlekar, Dilip Parulekar, Laxmikant Parsekar, Dayanand Mandrekar and Mahadev Naik, once known to be hardcore BJP leaders, were sent home.
The BJP in itself was never in a position to nominate a provisional successor to Manohar Parrikar. Parrikar, who remained virtually the party’s commander-in-chief gave the BJP no scope to think of a second-in-command. The very fact that Parrikar was the only acceptable face to the coalition partners and independents is a clear indicator of his acceptability and administrative skills.
BJP, just like the Congress, has not been able to groom aspiring grass-root leaders and went by the follow-the-leader approach under Parrikar. Secondly, coalition politics literally put a spoke in the wheel of the BJP plans, where the party was forced to be tuned to the interest of the allies ignoring their own. The situation at the grassroots is somewhat similar to the one in Congress where old horses have always been at war with the young Turks. If a few of the young leaders have made a mark, it is just for their determination and the will to fight issues that brought them into the limelight, not the party leadership.
Avinash Rai Khanna flew down to Goa to take stock of the situation within 24 hours of his appointment. This only goes to show how seriously he has taken the issue. Khanna is BJP’s national vice president and also in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan and a seasoned political strategist. The urgency which he showed in interacting with various party leaders and workers indicate that he means business from the word go. Engaging the veterans who have fallen out in the last assembly elections will be crucial in his scheme of things. While the party bosses go on an overdrive to scout for young talent, the veterans who have been the pall bearers of the party cannot be forgotten overnight.
The move to depute Khanna also demonstrates the intent of the party and the strategy it is trying to put in place ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At a time where parties are talking about coalition politics, tie-ups and alignments, BJP will be forced to up their game in the parliamentary poll which is seen as a decisive battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
