State BJP : More than internal affairs :: Internal squabbles
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 28 2015 -

Internal squabbles. This has come to define the State unit of the BJP now and there is nothing to rejoice over this.

After the BJP rode on the Narendra Modi wave in the Lok Sabha election of 2014, the party has gone from strength to strength and this was best exemplified by the tremendous showing it put up in the Assembly elections at Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan just last year.

That however does not seem to have rubbed off on the State unit of the BJP.

The writings on the wall were clear when its candidate bit the dust in the Hiyanglam by election held last year and as if this was not enough, internal wranglings seem to have shaken the State unit of the BJP this time around.

Not everybody may give a serious thought to the reported internal differences within the State BJP, but the indications are clear.

It is a clear reflection that not everything is right within the State unit of the party and if not dealt with correctly this may have a serious impact on the party when Manipur goes to polls in 2017.

Not that the Congress will steamroll the others, like it did in the 2012 Assembly election, but everything indicates that it is the BJP alone which is well placed to take the fight to the camp of the Congress.

The only and important question is whether the State unit of the BJP has it in them to take the fight to the Congress or not.

Time alone will tell, but as things stand today not everything is right within the State BJP and this is something which the ‘original’ BJP men and women must have felt for some time.

Th Chaoba, a political veteran who has seen it all, is an experienced leader but does he have it in him to take the BJP to the centre stage ? This is an important question for remember not many see Th Chaoba as a genuine BJP leader.

2017 is still two years away but in politics two years can prove to be a short time.

Yet at the same time this period is long enough to make or unmake a political party and how the BJP manages its internal affairs will go a long way in deciding its future.

Till date there is no one in the State BJP who is seen to be well placed to become Chief Minister material.

There may be arguments that this does not count for much, since Chief Minister O Ibobi too was a nobody before the Congress seized power after the 2002 Assembly election.

The task before the BJP is tremendous, no doubt about it. And the most important point for the party is to get working on is its internal dynamics.

How well oiled is the party to take the ideology and belief of the BJP to all the voters of the State ?

Has the State BJP managed to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the man in whom people must repose their trust and confidence in ?

How about the credibility of its State leadership ? Have they been able to instil confidence and trust in the people ?

For this to happen, the State unit of the BJP needs to first cleanse its stable.

Not the time to pander to the fancy and whims of some individual leaders but get down to the business of strengthening the party at the grassroots level.

More importantly can the State leaders of the party set aside their personal egos and get down to the task of settling the internal affairs of the party ?