bulbul Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 Two consecutive setbacks in LS elections in 2004 and 2009 had eroded BJP's self-belief, created a leadership crisis and sparked bloodletting among its brass. This may have been camouflaged by the party's status as the principal opposition party, but a third straight defeat would have pushed it to the brink of political irrelevance. The tremors began with its unexpected defeat in 2004, escalated into a crisis after Atal Bihari Vajpayee faded away. L K Advani's numero uno position was questioned after he praised Jinnah. The vacuum at the top triggered a fierce power struggle among the second rung which refused to abate despite an RSS intervention The cracks would often show. The gains in Karnataka were frittered away because of a factional strife in which central leaders openly took sides. In 2008, Congress managed to score a narrow victory in Rajasthan solely because BJP's central leadership succumbed to bullying by Vasundhara Raje's rivals. In 2009, BJP blew the opportunity to forge a winning alliance in Haryana; in 2012 in Uttarakhand, the party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory because a couple of central leaders supported the CM despite his becoming a liability. Factionalism, myopic self-interest, petty thinking gnawed at the party. The so-called high command, by now sufficiently hollowed out, lost its moral authority. The nadir was reached when details of deliberations among party's senior office-bearers started leaking right into Congress. BJP was also losing its support base. The domination of upper castes in UP ensured that OBCs — the key factor behind the breakthrough in the state in the 1990s — cozied up to other suitors. The party's urban stronghold succumbed to Congress's contemporary idiom of growth in 2009. For the growing constituency of youth, BJP had little to offer; while its pro forma response to corruption enhanced AAP's simple and seductive allure. No alarm bells rang simply because its Delhi bosses were confident that the resentment against Congress was deep-rooted enough to pitchfork the party to power by default. The grandees even scaled back their ask for the 2014 polls to 160-70 seats, believing it to be enough to grab the leadership of an anti-Congress coalition. His success has defused the bogey of a hardline Hindutva votary being a turn-off for Hindu moderates. Moreover, Modi's record win comes in the face of arguably the biggest mobilization of Muslims against a specific leader since Indira Gandhi's fall in 1977. His 'growth and development' plank won back the urban middle class and youth. As the first OBC contender for the PM's mantle, he drew in sections of backwards, even dalits, to the party. Above all, Modi has fashioned a contemporary look for BJP, which can help it evolve into a modern outfit while retaining its USP of cultural nationalism. This could all translate into long-term gains. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/Election-results-2014-How-SuperModi-pulled-BJP-back-from-the-brink/articleshow/35227008.cms Excellent article ~ these are the same reasons i am supporting Modi , to save BJP from destructing.
JaiRamesh2 Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 Modi has never lost a major election. But certainly set the benchmark for general elections campaigning.
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