In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA swept the Hindi heartland. But it is not going to be essy this time around. That is why the BJP is looking to bag seats from the south and West Bengal.
The soci- economic polarisation gives the BJP the edge in all north Indian states. But, rural voters in many of these states are not happy with the saffron party as there is growing perception that BJP, at some stage, will remove caste reservation and the Constitution, as the RSS is against reservations as evident from the remarks of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and also some BJP leaders who made a blunder for asking the people to give 400 seats to amend the Constitution. Its plan to strengthen Hindutva works well only if Hindus are not divided on caste lines. A caste census, BJP knows, will create a new consciousness among the marginalised sections of the society thereby threatening the BJP's plans for the future. So the BJP will continue to oppose caste census.
