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BJP confident of retaining power in states going to polls
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is confident that it would be able to retain power in three states headed for fresh elections later this year.
- By Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent
- Published: 23:55 February 11, 2008
New Delhi: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is confident that it would be able to retain power in three states headed for fresh elections later this year.
An internal assessment carried out by the party indicates that it has no reasons to panic since the chances of returning to power, albeit with reduced majority are quite high.
Three BJP-ruled states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - along with Congress-ruled Delhi are slated to elect new legislative assemblies in December this year.
The party is also sure of wresting power from rival Congress in Delhi.
BJP was worried about its prospects in all three states for different reasons. While poor governance has been hounding the party in Madhya Pradesh where it has changed chief ministers thrice in the past four years, caste-related violence has made its government in Rajasthan shaky. On the other hand, its government in Chhattisgarh has been battling unsuccessfully to contain the Naxalite threat.
According to a senior central office bearer of the party, indications available suggest that it may be able to win at least 125 seats in the 230-member legislative assembly in Madhya Pradesh as against 173 seats it had won in 2003.
Renewed confidence
"The report has given us renewed confidence since positive outcomes in these four states would give impetus to our bid to come to power at the centre next year," the BJP leader said.
According to him, the report says that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is not as unpopular as the party had estimated him to be, while both Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh, chief ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively, continue to be popular among the masses.
Interestingly, both the Congress and the BJP are banking heavily on favourable outcomes in these four states since it may set the tone for the next general elections due in April-May next year.
One of the reasons the Congress gave for not opting for fresh general elections was that it wanted to seek a fresh mandate from the position of strength, after dethroning BJP from power in these states.
As against a two-third majority it got in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP had won simple majorities in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh by winning 120 out of 200 seats in Rajasthan and 50 out of 90 seats in Chhattisgarh.
"What promises to go in our favour in that the Congress is too focussed on managing the rag-tag coalition it heads at the centre and their state units are totally disorganised," the BJP leader said.
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