Behind The BJP’s Illusory Offer To Jana Sena

Ahead of the Tirupati by-election, Bharatiya Janata Party Andhra Pradesh State president Somu Veerraju said the party plans to make its alliance partner Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan Chief Minister of state. Political observers feel it a deliberate ploy on the part of the BJP to placate the sulking Jana Sena cadre. The Jana Sena rank and file is not extending its full support to the BJP in the run-up to the by-poll as the party wanted to contest on behalf of the alliance. Somehow, the BJP leadership prevailed over Pawan Kalyan. Jana Sena would have got greater voting than BJP. The social composition of Tirupati electorate also suggests this. The Jana Sena could make its presence felt in the recently held elections to the local bodies, while the BJP came a cropper. 

The BJP candidate got 1.22 percent votes (16,000) in Tirupati in the 2019 general elections, which was even less than the votes polled for NOTA. Thus the BJP is desperate in seeking Jana Sena’s support to improve its tally. Tirupati by-election is crucial for BJP to prove its claim that Andhra Pradesh politics are a three-way fight. Thus, Somu Veerraju’s comments are a calculated strategy to enlist Jana Sena’s support rather than any serious commitment to its alliance partner.
 
The BJP is known for cold-blooded approach even towards its allies when it comes to sharing power and positions. The BJP has not even hesitated to lose power in Maharashtra, but refused to offer a chief ministerial position to its long-standing ideological ally Shivsena. Similarly, the BJP conceded power to congress- JD(S) combine in Karnataka but has not yielded to Kumaraswamy’s uncharitable demand. The Bihar state BJP leadership is waiting in the wings to grab the Chief Minister seat from Nitish Kumar. Yet, the BJP does not hesitate to make a ludicrous claim that it wants to make Pawan Kalyan as Chief Minister even when its vote tally does not cross NOTA. 

The BJP refuses to endorse sitting chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam in the run-up to elections. Similarly, the BJP refuses to reveal its chief ministerial choice in West Bengal and has done so in Uttar Pradesh in the past. But, it declared metro man Sreedharan as its CMs face in Kerala, where it fights to retain the sole seat which it holds in the outgoing assembly. Thus, invoking the name of Pawan Kalyan and referring to him as Modi’s choice is only a strategy to placate Jana Sena cadre. The BJP refuses to concede a seat in by-poll in Tirupati where it has no stakes and even a division in GHMC. Yet, it wants to make Pawan Kalyan chief minister. What an illusory offer for Jana Sena!