It is true that after such a debacle the party needs to introspect and see what all went wrong during the campaigning. What I have observed is that in the last few days the party came into news for only wrong reasons, for happenings which should not have taken place at all. And the party's lack of response, or the wrong response for those happenings. With this type of response I can only say that when there are enough people in the party who do not care whether the party survives or not, one does not need enemies outside the party. The people inside are enough to drown the party.
What Modiji should realize is that if he wants to win the next general elections (which is only three years away), he has to set his house in order. He has to rule with an iron hand, allowing no one to get distracted from the agenda for which he had won the 2014 elections - good governance, good economic growth, sabka saath - sabka vikas, and corruption free environment. All the spurious activities that the party people are engaged in, should be banned, because they are not going to improve the image of the party. Things like beef ban are not going to be taken in lightly in Kerala and in the North east, where BJP has yet to plant its feet.
For the preparation for the general elections Modiji had a think tank which helped him in effective micro-management of the election campaign. He needs to revive the think tank. He needs people who think of the country as supreme, and their own ego as unimportant, to help him run the country.
Modiji thinks of himself as Pradhan Sevak. By that logic the people around him should be nothing more than tuchchh sevaks. But they are thinking of themselves as feudal lords and kings. Such people should be removed from any decision making authority.
These are some thoughts. One could go on and on, because the ills one sees around oneself are too many.
VB Lal
Retired Group Director
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre more