Though the Bihar BJP leaders rather sheepishly proclaim that there would be no impact of the electoral verdict of Delhi here in the state the truth may be otherwise. It only depends which party will be affected more. After all in Delhi both the ruling BJP and Congress got decimated.
True Bihar is far away from Delhi and there is still months to go for the Assembly election, yet nobody can deny the fact that parties here are a bit alarmed by the margin of Aam Admi Party victory.It is also true that in Bihar elections still take place on the caste line and the outcome may be totally different.But one thing is clear: the results in Delhi has certainly dampened the morale and fighting spirit of the saffron party and its allies in Bihar and elsewhere. The Shiv Sena directly blamed none else but Narendra Modi for the defeat.
Their magic wand––Narendra Modi––seems to have lost his touch.The result has increased the indecisiveness within the BJP camp so far dealing with the current political stalemate is concerned. The BJP is assessing the situation taking into account all the facts. Any hasty move to impose President’s Rule may backfire. The political moves taken by chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi have already brought the ruling JD(U) and RJD much closer. Even those MLAs of both the parties, who were somewhat soft towards Manjhi are now solidly behind the combine. Manjhi has perhaps made the task of merger of the two parties of Janata Parivar of Bihar much easier. The bonhomie shown by the legislators of both JD(U) and RJD are being watched closely by the BJP. In short term at least the Manjhi card is not working for the BJP.In contrast the AAP victory has electrified the JD(U)-RJD combine.
But then it is early days and much depends on how the BJP handles the whole situation and overcomes these challenges. Once things start going wrong it is difficult to reverse the situation.Besides, much depends on how the AAP itself consolidates in Bihar. It has much better chance in Punjab where incumbency factor is seriously working against Akali Dal and BJP government and where it has four MPs. But in Bihar it may have to go a long way. One of its senior leaders is Parveen Amanullah, who had served in the Nitish cabinet for over three years. She is already a tested figure, unlike other AAP leaders of Delhi, who were in power for just 49 days.What is worrying for the BJP is that that the ruling of the voters of Delhi have created in their mind a defeatist mentality. They are not saying that the people’s court has given its judgement against the ruling party in Delhi and so would it do in Bihar. Contrary to that it is the ruling combine in Bihar which is elated.
Herein lies the difference––and the difference may not be small. Much depends on how ‘aam admi’ or ‘aam aurat’ (common men and women) if not Aam Admi Party respond to the situation.
