MAJORITY OF bjp and RSS leaders shows confidence on Tv screens that they are forming governement in 2014 with over 300 seats in all their remarks to the media, leaders of the BJP and the RSS have expressed confidence that the NDA will sail past the Lok Sabha midway mark to comfortably form the next government. Behind closed doors, though, the BJP and its parent outfit are reportedly engaged in feverish discussions to chalk out their strategy in case the NDA fails to hit the magic figure of 272.
Many RSS stalwarts are busy formulating “plan B” in case bjp falls short of majority.BJP insiders said on Sunday that in such a scenario, the party would prefer to join hands with smaller entities like the O. P. Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal, Naveen Patnaik- led Biju Janata Dal and K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi instead of bigger regional players such as Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC or Mayawati’s BSP.
RSS is not interested in dealing with whims and fancies of Jaya or Mamta or Mayawati .The BJP’s senior leaders are of the view that engaging with satraps like Jayalalithaa, Mamata and Mayawati, known for holding the central government to ransom over their demands, will not be easy.
Smaller parties like the INLD, BJD or even TRS may not bag too many seats, but chances are the BJP will not fall short of the majority mark by too big a margin. It would suffice to join hands with Chautala’s INLD if he gets two or three seats,” an insider said.
Another leader said the BJP will prefer to ally with M. Karunanidhi’s DMK in Tamil Nadu instead of going with Jayalalithaa as they fear she might pull the plug on the NDA government during the state elections in 2016. In Andhra, the party could tie up with Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress.
Leaders of both the BJP and the RSS have refused to admit that the meetings of BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi and party chief Rajnath Singh on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, were meant to chalk out the alliance’s post- poll strategy. But sources claim otherwise. The “ closed- door” meetings, an insider added, were organised at the last minute to get feedback from the hundreds of swayamsevaks deployed across the country to campaign for the NDA. “ The feedback has largely convinced the RSS about the NDA’s poll prospects, but they are still wary. If the alliance falls short of a few numbers, it won’t exactly be a surprise,” a source said.
The sources added that there are fears in the party that they may not get as many seats as they had earlier thought in Bihar and UP. “ Lalu’s rise can’t be ignored in Bihar. It is yet to be seen just how much the BJP will get out of its alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party. In UP, where it expected to get about 50 seats, the buzz is that the BJP may not be able to get more than 42 ( of 80 seats).