Parties making inroads into poll-bound States have overwhelmed the BJP ahead of elections

As elections to five State Assemblies loom over the horizon, the BJP seems to be staring at some tough times ahead, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab. The saffron party has its own Government in the first two States. Though it is certainly not prudent to underestimate the BJP’s heavyweight poll machinery as it marches on with all its might towards the approaching Assembly polls, it is also a matter of record that it is not too comfortably placed in Goa, where incumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant facing anti-incumbency may not find the sailing smooth. Besides, the entry of the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in the forthcoming election has added to the BJP’s complicated position. Similarly, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is making serious inroads in Punjab, too, where it is giving sleepless nights to the beleaguered Congress, with the Delhi Chief Minister announcing sop after sop in the largely agrarian State. The latest in the series is his promise to transfer Rs 1,000 per month into the bank account of every woman in Punjab if his party is voted to office. Rubbing salt into the wounds of the Congress, he even called Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi a “fake Kejriwal”.

As for Uttar Pradesh, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has taken the fight to the BJP’s camp thereby announcing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to repeal the three contentious farm laws notwithstanding, the farmers’ agitation was still not over. Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait also warned the Centre of another prolonged protest till all of their six demands, including a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and Union State Minister for Home Ajay Mishra Teni’s dismissal over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, were met. He was speaking at an event organised in Lucknow to showcase the combined might of 40 farm unions. Taking everything into account, it doesn’t seem like a friendly outing at the hustings for the BJP in the first quarter of 2022 as it battles the anti-incumbency factor in Uttar Pradesh and Goa as well as tries to negotiate the adverse public perception emanating from the ever-rising petrol, diesel and LPG prices which has turned especially the middle class against the Union Government. It’s high time that the Centre realised that shaving off Rs 5 or Rs 10 once after hiking the fuel prices by over Rs 30 in a matter of months isn’t going to endear it to the electorate.