BJP in regional tieup trouble

At a time when the BJP central leadership is looking for new allies to expand the NDA fold, some of its state units are reluctant towards forging alliances with the regional forces.

In Andhra Pradesh, where the saffron party’s own assessment is giving itself three parliamentary seats in the coming general elections, its state unit is unwilling for a possible tie-up with the TDP. While the TDP is keen to have an alliance with its former ally and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu had even met BJP chief Rajnath Singh in this regard, the saffron party is trying to sort out concerns of its state unit over the issue. The state unit, which had a “bitter experience” during its past alliance with the TDP, has raised concerns with the central leadership. Also, the BJP’s state unit is also divided on regional lines as its leaders from Telangana region are against any tie-up with the TDP as the latter is seen as opposed to bifurcation of the state.
Similarly, in Assam, the state unit is divided over a possible alliance with the AGP. While a section wants to forge an alliance with the AGP — with which it had allied in the state during the last general elections — some saffron leaders are against it. BJP state unit chief Sarbananda Sonowal, who had quit the AGP and joined the BJP, is personally not in favour of allying with the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta-led AGP. But leaders like Lok Sabha MP Bijoya Chakravarty, in whose constituency, Guwahati, the AGP has a strong base, are in favour of an alliance. But those opposed to it are citing the party’s internal assessment which has predicted the saffron party gaining in this north-eastern state. The BJP had won four out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state during the last general elections.
In Haryana, while the BJP has an alliance with Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress, the saffron party is also getting feelers from its former ally, the INLD. But the party’s state unit as well as a section within the BJP are against allying with the INLD whose chief and his son have been convicted in a corruption scam.