BJP president Amit Shah (file photo)The ruling party at the centre has comparatively lower targets in the rest of the states going for polls in 2016. While it is making a valiant attempt to make the maiden entrance into Kerala assembly, BJP president Amit Shah will be happy if his party were to retain its vote share in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the BJP has no major ally, compared to 2014 Lok Sabha elections when it had an alliance with Vijayakanth's DMDK, the PMK of S. Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramadoss, and Vaiko's MDMK. The NDA had won two Lok Sabha seats, but now it is going alone.
In Bengal, the stakes have become lower as there is a direct fight between ruling Trinamool Congress and the new partnership of Left front and Congress.
As the Assam voters have decided on their candidates, Shah is focussing on party issues in states such as Gujarat and Punjab, which will go to elections next year. Last year, Narendra Modi and Shah were micromanaging the campaign in Bihar in their desperation to win the first state in the east for BJP.
The Congress headquarters is more animated, as it is the only party to have high stakes in all the five states. While Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the star campaigners, the party is mobilising resources for West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, while it had left the campaign strategies in Assam and Kerala to chief ministers Tarun Gogoi and Oommen Chandy.
In Kerala, Chandy has been working in close co-ordination with KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran and home minister Ramesh Chennithala, along with other UDF partners. But in Assam, it was a one-man show by Gogoi, who is aiming for a record fourth term.
Nevertheless, the Congress high command has a bigger role as coordination with CPM in West Bengal and with partner DMK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is handled from the centre. The two parties after the initial seat adjustment have gone for joint campaigning, with Rahul Gandhi sharing the dais with former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
In Tamil Nadu, where campaigning has picked pace, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is trying for a joint meeting to be addressed by DMK president M. Karunanidhi and Sonia, while at another level, he is working on a joint campaign by the sons, who are all set to inherit Congress and DMK. Rahul Gandhi and M.K. Stalin may address a big rally. While DMK is looking at the finale in Chennai, Rahul has suggested a rural venue.
The BJP and Congress are draggers drawn in the ongoing parliament session sparring over the corruption in Agusta Westland helicopter deal and the toppling of Congress government in Uttarakhand. But both are anxiously waiting for the results on May 19, even as the budget session comes to a close. A big victory for NDA in Assam, accompanied by losses to the Congress in all the states will make Modi and Shah more aggressive. But a good performance by Congress will put the BJP on the offensive, as there will be hard questions on the tactics of Modi and Shah.
