At a crowded press conference held here on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh evaded a clear answer when asked why the Narendra Modi magic did not work in Delhi, where the party missed simple majority by a whisker.
At the Congress headquarters, party president Sonia Gandhi said her party would announce the name of a Prime Ministerial candidate at an opportune time.
The lesson the BJP and Congress could learn from this election is that if there is a credible alternative for the big two, the voters do not care about the leadership debate.
Though Rajnath Singh said the popularity of Modi had helped the party in the four key States, the results proved that the “leadership debate” alone did not win votes. It could be seen that the micro-level organisational work of BJP, with the help of its parent organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, had helped it win the game.
After a gap of several years, the RSS had shown much enthusiasm this time around. The BJP general secretaries in charge of the organisation in the four States were given a free hand in deciding the manner of the campaign.
They even influenced the selection of candidates. Usually, organisation general secretaries are provided by the RSS to the BJP.
“It was joint effort by the RSS and BJP leaders. We used the popularity of some of our leaders to rejuvenate the organisation at the ground level and ensured that all our votes are polled on election day,” a BJP State organisation general secretary told Business Line .
“National Organisation General Secretary Ramlal has also helped us to streamline our campaigning,” he added.
The Congress, on the other hand, found much of its booth-level units inactive. The party could not match the organisational abilities of the RSS.
Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh, had once said that the next Lok Sabha election will be a fight between the RSS and the Congress. But it has to be seen how the RSS will help the BJP fight regional forces in States such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.
jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in