(Image source from: PressFrom)
BJP's 'Pragmatic' Alliance Plan To Amend Tally In South States:- With intensifying political vacuum in one state, a weakened Opposition in another and a widened political space due to approaching together of two Opposition parties in yet another, the Bharatiya Janata Party's "pragmatic" plan for southern states is set to make the region "the theatre of action" in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, according to senior BJP leaders.
"Pragmatism" would be adopted in forming alliances, said a senior party leader, adding that party president Amit Shah has clarified that the BJP would go for an alliance in Tamil Nadu.
In Andhra Pradesh, where its estranged ally Telugu Desam Party is "getting cosy" to Congress, the BJP could join hands with smaller allies ahead of the election while in Karnataka, the party is "confident" that the ruling alliance of Congress and JD(S) (Janata Dal (Secular) would be to its advantage.
The five southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala - and the Union Territory of Puducherry together elect 130 MPs to Lok Sabha.
Despite its stunning performance in 2014, the BJP could win a total of 20 seats from these states. "Weakening of Congress in these states has brightened our prospects," said the BJP leader. "We are ahead of Congress in terms of eligibility for getting more partners. What is that the Congress can keep on the table for allies? The BJP is far superior."
However, current allies of the BJP, which has already lost the TDP as an ally, are miffed with it be it SAD (Shiromani Akali Dal) or Shiv Sena. "Alliances are, practically, for piggy riding and would be mutually complimentary," said a party general secretary involved in BJP's affairs in the south.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited late DMK ( (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) patriarch M Karunanidhi while he was ailing and also attended his funeral in Chennai. The DMK surprised everyone by inviting Shah to a memorial meeting for Karunanidhi. Also, DMK working president M K Stalin and Member of Parliament K Kanimozhi reached Delhi to pay tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"Such gestures need not be seen as readiness to forge an alliance with the BJP," said the senior leader. He added, "In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK is not ideologically anti-BJP and DMK's leadership is not anti-BJP."
According to this leader, what the BJP would be looking for in Tamil Nadu - where it won one out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 - is a socio-political composition. BJP leaders said the state faces a situation in which a major regional party has been weakened and the other's leadership is yet to get endorsed electorally.
In Kerala, where the BJP has increased its vote share but failed to make any major electoral impact so far, the party will focus on broad based, said party leaders.
Seats from southern states have become more crucial for BJP's aim to return to power after the party's new positioning in Odisha. After its initial onslaught against the BJD, things cooled down during the monsoon session.
The BJD's move to vote with NDA in the election to the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman indicated a change in approach.
Many in the BJP think the old practice of regional parties focusing on Assembly polls and leaving national parties to fight the Parliamentary polls could return. "Now, there are not many takers for a third front either. K Chandrashekar Rao is getting warmer to the BJP. The same with Naveen Patnaik," the leader said.
By Sowmya
