Uttarakhand: BJP's rudderless ship sank without a trace

After the Congress won the prestigious floor test in Uttarakhand and Harish Rawat was set to return as the chief minister of the hilly state, the BJP now has a serious work to do, ahead of the next Assembly election.

The saffron party, which was in power at the Centre in 2000 when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, is known for its deep factional feud in the state and while the latest chaos will assure Rawat of cleaning up his opponents, the BJP could see its problems multiplying. The party is known for its Ramesh Pokhriyal-BC Khanduri tussle and has between seven to 10 aspirants for the chief minister's post at any point of time. [Which way is Amit Shah taking the BJP?]

The presence of Sanjay Gupta, a key post-holder in the party in Uttarakhand but is accused of incompetence and the induction of Satpal Maharaj have made things the continuous power struggle more cumbersome for the BJP.

The BJP is in a disarray in Uttarakhand because its leaders in the state lack genuine base and depends on manipulation and coterie for their survival. They want to remain closer to Delhi so that the patronage from the top leadership helps them in Dehradun. The party lacks a vision for the state and it all comes up ultimately to bagging the power. Till then, it is quite an unrest among opportunists.

The rebellion in the Congress had given the BJP a perfect opportunity to correct its course by unifying itself and with not even a year left for the next Assembly election, a logical strategy would have given the BJP the chance to reverse the narrow defeat it had met in the state in 2012.

But the BJP, which often propagates about its mission of Congress-mukt Bharat, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and after all the drama that went against it, the challenge in the next Assembly poll looks tougher.