Even as the road to Delhi gets more arduous after Biju Janata Dal?s exit from the NDA fold, the BJP has decided to field candidates in all the seats of four states?Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal?thereby making it clear that it has given up the search for allies in these states and will go to polls on its own.
The saffron party, which had drawn a blank in these states in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, had seat sharing arrangements with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the TDP in Andhra Pradesh in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Until a few days back it had attempted to retain these parties into the NDA fold for the 2009 general elections. It finally decided to go alone when the regional players spurned BJP?s offer.
BJP circles contend that the decision to field candidates in all the 143 seats was driven by three reasons in mind?the unavailability of alliance partners, especially in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the opportunity to test its strength in these states so that it can devise future strategies and the determination to focus its energies on adversely impacting Congress prospects in these states.
Nonetheless, the party cannot hope to do much in terms of success, especially in the Southern states. The only state in the south where it had succeeded in making inroads is Karnataka, where it formed its first government last year. The party is now able to boast of 18 Lok Sabha members from the state and will be fighting hard to retain them. It?s not a happy scenario otherwise for the main Opposition party. The party has been trudging alone in bipolar Kerala, where the real battle is between the Congress and the CPI (M). Except for the single seat is only hoping for the Trivandrum seat where former union minister of state O Rajagopal is a strong contender.
In Andhra Pradesh, the party had been hoping for some kind of alliance with the TRS, but could not succeed despite strongly backing statehood for Telengana. On its own, the BJP is certain to face a tough time this time and can make an impact in seats like Secunderabad where the senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya came close to winning it the last time. In Tamil Nadu, too the party does not stand any real chance except to try and play spoiler for the Congress.
It is only in West Bengal that the situation looks somewhat better, given that the party has just reinducted Tapan Sikdar, one of its senior leaders into the party fold who can put up a fight in Dumdum.
The party also has expectations on the Krishnanagar seat, where the present state chief Satyabrata Mookherjee is likely to contest. However, the party is really pinning hopes on making its presence felt in north Bengal through an alliance with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, which has replaced the GNLF in the Darjeeling hills and is fast making inroads in the Terai and Dooars region with its aggressive style of politics. Should the BJP be able to seal a deal with the GJM, it could open up its account in north Bengal by winning three out of the six seats in the region.