By Sujeet Kumar
IANS
Raipur : Chhattisgarh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had almost lost hope of retaining power next year after losses in assembly and Lok Sabha by-polls. But things are suddenly looking up.
Senior minister Brijmohan Agrawal is being credited with engineering a record victory for the BJP this month in Malkharoda, an assembly seat the party had never won before.
The party has called a meeting June 19 to ensure a repeat in the 2008 assembly polls. It will also review performances of all 12 ministers of the Raman Singh government and may go in for a reshuffle if it is not satisfied with their performance.
"It's hard to believe that the BJP bagged Malkharoda where about 80 percent Scheduled Caste voters voted for it," a party leader and former union minister, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.
"It was a victory earned by Brijmohan Agrawal who was made poll in-charge for the seat because of his proven managerial skills. And he did the miracle for the party." Agrawal is revenue, forests and law minister.
Until May end, the morale of the saffron cadres in Chhattisgarh had hit a low following two losses on the trot, one in the Kota assembly constituency in December and another in April this year in the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency.
But the party notched up two surprise victories in the assembly by-elections in Khairagarh and Malkharoda held on June 2 and whose results were declared June 5.
The party believes it won in the Congress bastion of Khairagarh because it fielded a backward caste candidate against a local royal family nominee of the Congress.
But what came as a surprise was the win at Malkharoda. The BJP won the seat for the first time ever and by 22,000 votes – the highest margin in the constituency.
"The victory at Malkharoda means a lot to the party. In fact, the government has got a fresh lease of life," said a senior functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which closely follows the BJP's affairs in the state.
RSS sources added that BJP cadres had almost given up on strategies to retain power in the 2008 polls after losing in Kota. The poll had been described as a battle of dignity between the Congress and the BJP.
The big blow in April was when again the BJP conceded the safe Lok Sabha seat of Rajnandgaon to the Congress.
The worst factor in the loss was that BJP failed to take the lead in Dongargaon, one of the eight assembly constituencies that form the Rajnandgaon constituency.
"The Dongargaon seat is held by Chief Minister Raman Singh and the party started questioning his leadership saying if a chief minister cannot manage a lead in his own segment, how can he ensure victory for the BJP in a 90-member assembly?" the RSS leader observed.