Much has been argued about how the ruling BJP is not as invincible as it was perceived in Haryana and Maharashtra, and now the party managers have realised that there is certainly a need to change their poll strategy for upcoming elections to Jharkhand and Delhi. Though the party entirely depended on the charismatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get votes, the two states showed that they needed more than that.

The immediate challenge is the elections to Jharkhand and Delhi with the apprehension that impact of Haryana and Maharashtra might be felt her. While the BJP will seek to retain power in Jharkhand, the party hopes to wrest power in Delhi from the Aam Aadmi Party. The BJP, which had a strong base at one time, has been out of power in Delhi since 1998. It needs a strong local face to match AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been on a campaign mode for some time.

The results have clearly shown that i t is the economy which requi res immediate at tent ion. Though the BJP avoided touching on this complex issue during the recent campaign, there is realisation that concerns of the voters must be addressed. Though they had voted for Modi just five months ago, and national issues like the abrogation of Article 370, Triple Talaaq and others were important, voters were more bothered about bread and butter issues such as lack of job opportunities, economic slowdown and agrarian distress.

On the other hand, the Congress-led opposition, which focused on local issues such as farm distress, unemployment and performance of the respective state governments, fared better than expected. Clearly, Prime Minister Modi had not been able to sell nationalism and national security to the extent the party wanted or else the results would have been different. The Centre was aware of reports on the health of the economy in Haryana, as according to one report the unemployment figure had reached 28 per cent – almost three times the national average. On the agrarian side, crop prices had been falling for the past two consecutive years.

Parts of Maharashtra have been facing drought and farm loan waivers were not reaching the farmers. The BJP was overconfident in both the states. The BJP has taken note of the warning signals seriously and is already working on an alternate strategy for Jharkhand and Delhi. The party’s working president J. P. Nadda has already begun the exercise and had some meetings with BJP state presidents and other important leaders from the two states last week. Last elections, it weakened the opposition by getting their top leaders to defect to the BJP.

But now it has realized that getting big leaders from other parties is one thing but winning the polls is another. The strategists have realized that the impact of national issues is limited on state elections. To their horror, when they thought that the opposition was in coma, the sudden resurgence of the Congress and the NCP has caught them unawares. What began as a onehorse race has ended up strengthening the opposition. As for Jharkhand, the BJP’s internal assessment is not very encouraging.

Despite its organizational strength, effective use of modern techniques and excellent communication, the BJP fears it may perform lower than its expectations. Above all, anti-incumbency is at work in Jharkhand. After the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in the US and his successful address in the United Nations last month, the Prime Minister has a big challenge in continuing bold reforms. Investors from abroad expect speedy reforms in banking sector, financial sector, the labour sector and less red tape.

There is a question mark over how far he will be able to meet their expectations and expedite the pace of reforms. The manufacturing and auto sectors need some attention. On the political side, the Modi- Shah duo must realize though Modi is a big leader, the party also needs to develop strong second-rung leaders in the states. They should look back and see how in their own party, previously the Advani-Vajpayee duo had not only handpicked talented secondrung leaders including Modi but also gave them every opportunity to grow. In both Jharkhand and Delhi, the BJP needs charismatic local leaders.

There is also the question of dealing with allies. The Shiv Sena is flexing its muscles and the JD (U) is also talking of getting berths in the Modi cabinet when there is the next expansion. Bihar is important because it will be going to polls next year. The lesson from the recent Assembly poll results is that one shoe does not fit all and the BJP has to design a poll strategy based on local needs. The BJP is not ignoring this aspect and is trying to do some course correction.