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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected allegations of engineering rebellion in opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), blaming the recent upheavals on the “leadership deficit” of these parties.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stands to benefit from these splits as the rebel groups have shown an inclination to support the ruling coalition. The NDA, which has 293 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha, could see its tally rise to 319 with 20 rebel MPs from the TMC — now merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) — and six from Shiv Sena (UBT) having spoken in favour of switching sides.
While the opposition has trained its guns at the BJP, accusing it of instigating and abetting the rebellion, the ruling party has blamed “the leadership” of the regional satraps for the crisis.
“There are a couple of reasons why legislators or lawmakers opt to move. The first is the political future—where do they see themselves and the party headed. The second is the relationship between the leader and the cadre and the third may be for other benefits including pecuniary,” said a senior BJP lawmaker, requesting anonymity.
The leader said the recent episodes of disgruntlement against TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT) chiefs, Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray, respectively, illustrate the disconnect between the top brass and the cadre.
“There was a time when Balasaheb (Thackeray) ensured that party leaders and workers were taken care of. That connection between the leader and the worker is now missing. Many of them also feel that Uddhav, by aligning with the Congress, has betrayed the cause of the Shiv Sena — protecting Hindutva,” the BJP leader added.
On Friday, while addressing party workers, Uddhav Thackeray denied these allegations and even offered to step down as party chief. He accused the BJP of poaching the MPs in a bid to shore up its numbers in the Lok Sabha so that it could rally support for legislations like the delimitation bill that require a two-third majority in Parliament.
Former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has also lashed out at the BJP for allegedly instigating rebellion in her party. The rebels who broke away from the TMC blamed the party’s national general secretary and Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek for the administrative lapses that paved the way for the party’s decimation in the recent assembly polls.
“This is not one or two leaders leaving the party in a huff. The MLAs nearly staged a coup by selecting Ritabrata Banerjee as the LoP in the assembly and 20 MPs decided to merge with the NCPI … and the underlying issue was a leadership crisis. The party was run like a fiefdom and the elected leaders had no voice,” said a second BJP leader from Bengal.
The TMC faced a crushing defeat at the hands of BJP in April-May polls. The BJP won 207 of the 294 seats while the TMC could manage only 80 seats.
The second leader said several TMC leaders had reached out to the BJP “much ahead of the elections” as they disagreed with the party’s line on illegal immigrants and the state government’s inability to crack down on “syndicates” that coerced people into paying bribes.
“A strong leadership is imperative to keep the party together. In the BJP there is a mechanism of top-to-bottom review. The party has mechanisms in place to address concerns and to prevent disagreements from turning into dissent. In addition to platforms within the party, the Sangh (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) acts as an additional support system,” said a third functionary.
The leader also drew a distinction between the rebellion by TMC and Sena (UBT) leaders and “individual” leaders quitting the BJP.
Referring to instances of senior party leaders such as BS Yediyurappa, Uma Bharti, and more recently, K Annamalai quitting the party, the leader said these were not comparable.
“The leaders walked away for personal reasons not because of systemic problems. In any case, they were back in the party, which itself is an indicator of the party’s strength,” said the third functionary.
Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools.
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