Though the duo of Modi and Amit Shah has left many angry and disgruntled, it has proved to be the ultimate election-winning machine.
“Once we win 2019 election, we are going to rule for 50 years,” said Amit Shah, National President of BJP in front of a packed crowd of BJP’s office bearers. Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the crucial National Executive Meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party took place on 8th and 9th September. This meet was significant for several reasons. First and foremost being that the meeting set the tone for the mega battle of 2019. The eyes of political enthusiasts were glued to the meet as it would indicate towards whether there will be a change in course of politics in the upcoming months.
Claiming that the party will win 2019 elections, BJP President Amit Shah said, “No one can dethrone the BJP for the next 50 years.” The two-day national executive meet also saw BJP adopting a new slogan for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections- “Ajeya Bharat, Atal BJP” In a significant shift from 2014’s election slogan “Acche Din Aayenge” that became synonymous with BJP, the BJP decided to focus on incorporating the name of Bharatratna Late. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
However, probably the most important development that happened at the two-day National Executive Meet was BJP extending the tenure of party president Amit Shah. The saffron party has decided to defer the internal polls. Apparently, the three-year tenure of Amit Shah was to end in January 2019. But, as the internal party polls have been deferred, it is clear that Amit Shah will navigate the BJP’s ship during the parliamentary polls.
It was in July 2014 that Amit Shah took the charge of party president from Rajnath Singh. Rajnath Singh had to leave the post mid-term as he was inducted in the newly formed Modi Govt’s cabinet as Home Minister. On the other hand, the party constitution barred Singh from continuing as the President. Thus, Shah was appointed to complete the remaining term of Rajnath Singh. In no time, Shah as a party president along with Supreme Leader Narendra Modi led the party to a saffron surge in more than 10 states with an absolute majority- a feat unprecedented for the party. Following the victory run in subsequent assembly elections, Amit Shah was elected without any opposition as a party president for the first full three-year term in 2016.
Though the Modi-Shah duo has left many angry and disgruntled inside the party, it has undoubtedly proved to be the ultimate election-winning machine. Shah is Having even hailed as Modern day Chanakya behind BJP’s gigantic victory march. Thus, retaining Shah as the party president in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections is directly proportional to the BJP’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls. As we have mentioned in our earlier article, though Amit Shah is not a popular choice for a PM candidate, it does not hamper his role as the man behind the wheel. BJP does not want to risk 2019 by removing Shah from the job that he is best at.
The BJP has already angered several of its allies. If there’s one thing that is crystal-clear about 2019 election, it is that the Modi Wave is more than over. Thus, the party cannot rely on the Modi charisma to get the absolute majority on the lines of 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP understands it well. Whereas, the opposition has already started exploring the possible alliance options.
The ruling party is currently battling several odds. While on one hand, the government is facing a strong backlash from the Dalits and Muslim communities due to increased violence, on the other the Upper Caste Hindu voters are agitating against the government due to the scrapping of SC/ST Amendment Act. There is a strong resentment against the present government in the farmers and poor section of society. To combat this, the BJP has to put the best man at the job to win the elections irrespective of the fact that many senior leader and allies are averse to the autocratic way of Modi-Shah’s functioning. In this case, it is Amit Shah.
However, putting Amit Shah on the post of party president raises some important questions about the party’s internal democracy. The element that separated BJP from its rival Congress was the internal democracy that the party adopted at the very inception. Since the election of Narendra Modi as a Prime Minister and elevation of Amit Shah at the post of party president, the duo has started pulling all the strings in the party. Reportedly, even the new slogan that was introduced in the party’s National Executive Meet wasn’t consulted with the party leaders.
The party president elections have been deferred. Now, whether the party conventions of democratic elections will continue in the Modi-Shah era? Or under Shah’s leadership, the party will be turned into two men army?
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