Kashmir to Kanyakumari: Alliance anxiety grips BJP

Nearly eight weeks after Mufti Mohammed Sayeed died on January 7 this year, the BJP, which had successfully formed an alliance with his PDP and established its first government in the sensitive border state of Kashmir, finds itself in political wilderness.

If at one point in time, two decades ago to be precise, it found itself as a political ‘untouchable’ during the first stint of Vajpayee’s 13-day government in 1996, today it is unsure whether it will re-enter Srinagar triumphantly as a functioning government or not, given the enormous flip-flop of the current alliance leader, Mehbooba Mufti.

A series of intentional leaks, sarcastic tweets by Kashmir opposition leaders and reports of rounds of hopeful talks later, BJP has not yet thrown in the towel, but the scene remains unclear as it was, in the week that followed Mufti’s death.

If this is the status at the northernmost tip of the country, the southern end point, where Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu is located, also has enough reasons for the saffron party to fret about. Politically, this is the State which has been the toughest for the party to come to terms with.

Both the Dravidian parties, AIADMK and DMK which shared power alternately with it when it ruled, are playing truant, on the eve of major elections in the State this year.

A strong Centre, which can be a source of mutual political benefit and utility for a regional party in the normal scheme of things, has not been accorded its due really by the local players, due to the peculiar politics played out in the Tamil-speaking state.

As of now, political discussions in Tamil Nadu have gained traction, after the DMK tied up with Congress, despite initial reluctance and posturing. There are enough indications that the AIADMK government would not want to say a firm ‘no’ to the extended hand of friendship of the BJP; but it wants to see the dust settling around other political formations before that.

Local media and regional news channels have its pundits expounding theories which broadly hint at a longer waiting period for BJP, which lost an erstwhile partner DMK and is now waiting for the other to confirm its acceptance. The film hero Vijayakanth factor in propping up a political formation, if need be with a token BJP support, is still in its embryonic stage.

All the same, his detractors opine that the has-been actor, whose political pronouncements on issues all and sundry have been relentlessly trolled and memed on social media, can also turn out to be a ‘clutching at the straws’ kind for BJP or the other ragtag coalition of erstwhile DMK rejects and Communists, who get to align with him finally.

Already, his waiting game and statements made in public meetings that the people want him to be the king and not the king maker have confounded his prospective suitors in the political arena.

The only regional formation which seems to be gearing up, at least for the present, to go it all alone and appeal to the undecided young voters, who comprise nearly 30 per cent of the electorate, is Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) led by the young medical doctor, Anbumani Ramadoss.

Having been partners with senior regional parties many times over, this time around PMK feels it has the best chance to showcase itself as the worthy one to capture power.