READY FOR TAKE-OFF?

THE NEW ‘TEAM BJP’ HAS QUITE A CHALLENGE ON ITS HANDS

- Uday Mahurkar

With the announcement of a new team for the party organisation, BJP president J.P. Nadda has laid the party’s blueprint for the next three years. It’s an important period, as these are the years which will see seven major elections, starting with Bihar this month-end; West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala in 2021; and then Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in 2022. Is the party up for the challenges now that it has a fairly balanced team in place?

The answer is not so clear. The reason is the absence of a guiding force like the late Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj or vice-president Venkaiah Naidu. With Covid, China and the crisis in the economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his hands full. His No. 2, Amit Shah, who led the party from the front (201419), also won’t be available full-time considering his preoccupations as the Union home minister and health issues.

NEEDED: A GUIDING FORCE

BJP observers recall how the ailing Jaitley guided the party till the last days of the 2019 polls, holding daily meetings with opinion-makers, columnists and other influential sections of society, and how things began faltering when he handed things over to another leader briefly.