BJP popularity shrinks by half in just two years

Ranchi: The BJP, which had assumed power in 71 per cent of the country’s States in 2017, has come down to just 35 per cent hold barely two years later.

A political map of the country shows the BJP decline from 75 per cent to 35 per cent. After the humiliating loss to the Congress in direct fights in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatsigarh, the BJP has bowed out of power in Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well, two States which went the BJP way in 2014. The BJP narrowly scraped through in Haryana, thanks to a few Independents, and had to eat humble pie by people thrown out of its own party.

The Congress is in power in Punjab and the Union Territory of Puducherry as well, while the TMC, BJD and AAP are in the saddle in West Bengal, Orissa and Delhi respectively. The fall of its coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, after falling out with its ally the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has added to woes of the ruling party at the Centre.

The BJP’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who wanted a Congress-Mukht Bharat, has now found that the opposition has not only found its voice but is also controlling several States including key ones in the country. The Congress not only came to power in MP, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh, it has also managed to get into coalition government sin Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which seemed unthinkable a few years ago.

The success of the JMM-Congress ally, the RJD in Jharkhand, in border areas of Bihar, has also sent shock waves in the ruling JD(U) camp in Bihar, since Assembly elections are due in that State shortly.

The TMC in West Bengal greeted the Jharkhand result with glee, as its arch enemy is no longer the traditional rival, the Left, but the BJP. With Assembly elections due in that eastern State, the TMC is hopeful that the people of West Bengal too would reject the BJP.

A problem for the BJP is that barring Gujarat and Haryana, it is not able to retain power in the States from 2014. The performance of its Governments in the States is clearly seen as poor by the electorate there, paving the way for an opposition comeback. The people are able to make a distinction between promises and performance.

By R. Rangaraj