Bengaluru: While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command was confident of winning the recently concluded Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, the poor show by the saffron party in the five states including Telangana and Mizoram has reportedly not come as a shock to several karyakartas – the party foot-soldiers, who went public with their disillusionment with the top leadership, accusing them of sidelining them in recent years.
“There’s a growing disconnect between the foot-soldiers and the party leaders. There’s no second or third line of leadership in any of the BJP-ruled states,” said a party worker on condition of anonymity.
He pointed out to a post on social media by an old loyalist and fellow BJP karyakarta Surya Nataraja Sharma, who had posted on Facebook more than a week before December 11, when the results of the recently concluded Assembly elections were announced that the party would lose all the five states because of the alleged new “elitist” culture. “If the party loses in the 5 states the main reason is the leaders of the party and not the karyakartas. The karyakartas are still working unselfishly - without self - but leaders are working for only self (sic)... The fruits of the efforts of karyakartas are being enjoyed by the leaders and dreams of the karyakartas remain the same,” reads the post of a BJP karyakarta Nataraj Sharma.
“Sharma’s Facebook post resonates the sentiments of several party volunteers, who have committed themselves to building the BJP from the grassroots to a national and now the leading party. They have invested their time, sweat, blood and savings to build the BJP. Unlike the Congress the BJP is a cadre based party. Earlier, everybody was given equal respect and were heard. The party leaders would meet the karyakartas in community halls or temples and hold discussions. Today the meetings are held in five star hotels and the volunteers are ignored,” said the party worker.
Sharma’s post states that when the party was not in power, leaders would call the karyakartas to assemble at some place. “Very unfortunate, once they won the elections, they think they are Superman, He man (sic) and (there’s) no need of the karyakartas. After they win elections, their place of meeting is five star hotels with opponents and karyakarta is (made) the scapegoat… The fact and truth is the same in all parties but it is more in BJP now. It was not the culture of the party and the earlier leaders,” reads Sharma’s post. “This trend has to change if they want the BJP to retain power in 2019,” stated the BJP worker.
