BJP's allies flex muscle, warn of big trouble'

New Delhi: After the electoral debacle in the Hindi heartland, the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance have begun to flex their muscles. The JD(U) has categorically refused to support any move to bring in an ordinance on the Ram Mandir issue, while Naresh Gujral, a leader of the Akali Dal, has said the BJP has to “quickly settle” with its allies or it will be in big trouble in the 2019 general election. Earlier, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had ridiculed the Narendra Modi government following its defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Mr Gujral, a Rajya Sabha member, said that the BJP would be in “big trouble” if it did not see the reality. “The minorities want security. If you don’t provide them security, they will vote en masse for the Congress and its allies. Unless we recognise factors like economic issues and especially rural distress, we are in for trouble,” said Mr Gujral.

On the other hand, key NDA partner Janata Dal (United) made it clear it was not in favour of promulgation of an ordinance to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple in  Ayodhya, the demand for which has been made by the Sangh Parivar and a section of the BJP. “The party will stick to its earlier stand, the issue either be solved by mutual consent between the affected communities or decided by a court of law,” said JD(U) national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh.

The Sangh Parivar, of which the BJP is a part, and a section of hardliners within the party is mounting pressure to make headway for the construction of the Ram temple, which they termed an issue relating to the people’s faith. The Sangh Parivar has been demanding the construction of a temple at the disputed site through an Act of Parliament at the earliest and before the 2019 general election.

Some other NDA allies, such as the Lok Janshakti Party of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, have also voiced discomfiture over the BJP’s pursuit of the Hindutva agenda. The Shiv Sena, the BJP’s oldest ally, had earlier been more vocal in its critique after the BJP’s setbacks in the state polls. The Shiv Sena chief had said voters had to be praised for “rejecting those they did not want”.

After the BJP’s failure to form a government in any state in the recent Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena is demanding 50 per cent in any seat-sharing deal for Maharashtra in the 2019 polls. The BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the 2014 Maharashtra elections separately but later came together to form the government in the state. Mr Mahanta, a former Assam CM, had said the MNF’s victory in Mizoram was good for regional forces and wanted his party, the AGP, to divorce the BJP.