It's an impressive performance in the assembly elections, particularly since it helps the party re-endorse the advantages of elevating Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate. But what are the major takeaways for the BJP from its Super Sunday in 2013?
- Regional satraps: For one, finally after the state assemblies have polled and elected the BJP in three states, central leaders sitting in Delhi will have to accept that it is impossible to run a campaign and win an election without strong, able and popular regional leaders at the state level. BJP's performance in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, is not a victory of the central leadership of the party. It isn't even a victory of the party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. It is at the end of the day, the victory of regional leaders like Vasundhra Raje Scindia, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. As the party prepares for the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, it will have to create and put in focus its regional leaders and satraps without who no electoral victory is possible anymore.
- Modi Magic: While most leaders in the BJP would want to give credit to Narendra Modi for BJP's victory in the states, there is no denying that the 2013 assembly elections belonged to regional leaders and regional issues. No doubt, Narendra Modi's elevation and presence enthused and charged the BJP cadre like never before, the fact remains that these assembly elections were fought and won largely by BJP's state leaders. Modi magic contributed little and still has a long way to go.
- No room for complacency: With AAP's astounding performance in Delhi, the BJP much like the Congress and other bigger parties will have to be on its toes. For traditional parties, dominating the political landscape of this country for long now, the message is simple and clear: Perform or Perish. AAP's success in Delhi has sent a clear signal to parties like the BJP that there is no room for complacency. If parties like the BJP do not perform, then given a choice and alternative, people will vote for change and vote for a change that is far removed from a traditional alternative.
- Infighting and delayed decisions never pay: If there is one lesson that the BJP needs to learn in a hurry and hold on to, then that one lesson must come from Delhi, where first infighting and then delayed decisions regarding its Chief Ministerial candidate robbed the BJP of a chance to get absolute majority. Perhaps if the BJP had decided to field Dr Harshwardhan as its CM candidate sooner, the party would have managed to do better at the polls.
