BJP / NDA Need At Least 250 Seats

It is not enough to form the next government for BJP. They have to do so in a way that was much better than Atalji’s government. It was a motley crew or parties who used Atalji’s government like an ATM. Unscrupulous partners like Chandrababu Naidu (who abandoned BJP and now trying to worm his way back) held the central government at ransom. In a situation like that, most of the time and energy was spent keeping these disparate parties happy. Governance became a secondary issue. The nation can’t afford a repeat of that.

Akali Dal and Shiv Sena are ideological partners of the BJP and thus can always be counted on. Which why even after all the posturing, the three parties stood together once the campaign began. Now in an ideal world the BJP alone would cross the 272 mark because that would free up Bhai Narendra’s hands to implement his vision of India. That is why they are running the 272+ campaign. The seats brought in by SAD and SS would be added benefit. Next best thing would be that BJP+SAD+ exceed 272 since the other two are ideologically committed to the same goal. The aforementioned scenarios are desirable but difficult as of today’s date.

Even if you draw a fuzzy conclusion by the pre-election polls (which have been shown to be extremely compromised), the BJP+SAD+SS look to be hovering around 225. Even if you counted the TDP with 10 seats and LJP with 4 seats, we are still ways away from the goal. If this were the case in May then Modi will form the government but with the help of either Mamata Aapa (didi in Urdu) or Jaya Amma or both. This will be a repeat of Atalji’s government. These women are unpredictable and mercurial ergo disastrous for stability. What we need (if we absolutely have to) are people like Paswan and Naveen Patnaik whose greed for power makes them predictable and controllable or K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana Rashtra Samiti who would need constant help from the Central Government for the new state. These three will probably bring in close to 30 seats. Now if the BJP+SAD+SS get 250+ then we can have a stable government.

Therefore barring the ideal situation, the BJP+SAD+SS really need to hit the 250 mark. Seeing the way, Bhai Narendra Modi is campaigning, I have great hopes. His rallies and unfolding strategies in various states tell me that they are on top of all the issues which is a remarkable change from 2004 and 2009 when hope and entitlement were the BJP’s strategy. All we need is a good voter turnout.