Aiming for 65-plus seats in the 82-member Assembly and upbeat by the joining of several leaders from other parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now finding itself in a perplexing situation after the electoral show in Haryana and Maharashtra.
In Jharkhand, the party under a strategy to weaken the opposition strategy had encouraged the disgruntled leaders in the opposition ranks. This strategy did work successfully as some influential leaders of the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) like Sukhdev Bhagat, Manoj Yadav, Kunal Pandgi, J.P. Patel and Bhanu Pratap Shahi joined the BJP.
The flight of its leaders has rattled both the Congress and the JMM, but the outcome of the polls in the two states has delivered the kind of ammunition that the opposition parties in Jharkhand were looking for.
In many of the bypoll results, the BJP could not retain seats, and also, the defeat of MLAs who had changed fence has brought back smiles on the faces of the opposition leaders in Jharkhand.
State Congress chief, Rameshwar Oraon said: "The results in Haryana and Maharashtra and the bypolls in Bihar have exposed the BJP's claim of development. They should stop bragging now."
"BJP claimed to win 200 seats in Maharashtra and 75 in Haryana, but the results have shown them the reality. Local issues matter in the states. The BJP's claim of 65-plus here will also not come true," said Oraon.
Senior journalist Yogesh Kislaya told that the BJP should take a lesson from the Haryana polls.
He said: "The BJP strategy in Jharkhand is to go for a big win, but Haryana should be a lesson to them. They will be cautious now during the seat distribution."
BJP spokesperson Misfika Hasan, however, said that the Haryana results will have no bearing in Jharkhand.
"The party did not get the numbers there, which will be analysed, but the situation in Jharkhand is different. There is no opposition here, all their top leaders have joined us," she said.
A BJP leader said that the party is working at the ground level in the state. Chief Minister Raghubar Das is touring the state and in direct contact with the masses.
The results in Haryana arew forcing the party to seriously weigh the situation in Jharkhand. Getting bigwigs from other parties to join the party is one thing, but their winnability is something that the party has to ponder.
( With inputs from IANS )