New Delhi:
The BJP described its miserable performance in Uttar Pradesh as a wasted opportunity. Its parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), has a far more severe critique. In editorials in two different mouthpieces, the RSS said that "the lack of inspirational leadership" in Uttar Pradesh punished the BJP.
In the elections, whose results were declared on Tuesday, the BJP managed only 47 seats - four less than it won in the last state elections in 2007. Uttar Pradesh, desperate for a change, rejected the incumbent Mayawati in record numbers. But the BJP was not considered an option. Instead, Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party made a triumphant return to power with a huge mandate.
The RSS said that the BJP was guilty of a disconnect with the people of the state, just like the Congress. "Core ideological issues, principled approach and credibility of leadership are needed to sway the voter. More than the party, the leader and more than the leader, his track record (performance) determines poll outcome these days," one of its editorials said today.
The RSS also said that in UP, the party seemed to have a "bigger army of leaders than workers."
The RSS says via its editorials that the BJP needs more leaders like Narendra Modi; the article praises the Chief Minister of Gujarat for his effective governance in his home state.
Mr Modi did not take part in the BJP's campaign in Uttar Pradesh. He was sulking because his bete noire, Sanjay Joshi, was given a major role in handling the party's affairs for the election. On record, the BJP has said that Mr Modi was preoccupied with his sadbhavana tour, a series of fasts across the state dedicated by Mr Modi to "communal harmony." The party has repeatedly been asked if Mr Modi, a charismatic campaigner, via his absence, hurt his party's chances. The BJP has said it will analyse and introspect the effect of Mr Modi's no-show.
The RSS' praise for Mr Modi comes as the party has been reiterating that he is among a group of six contenders for the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections, scheduled for 2014. After the recent state elections, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said both her party and she anticipate early elections.
Mr Modi's ambitions for a transfer to the national political league are well known. However, the riots in Gujarat in 2002, the worst in independent India, have cast him as a leader who failed to protect his people. A series of court cases are determining whether Mr Modi can be held complicit for the riots. So far, he has not been indicted or held responsible by a special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court.