Development to divinity: BJP changes tack to sweep board

In cricket, a player going through a rough patch is often advised to stick to the basics.

- Ajay Jha

It is no surprise that the BJP, having hit a patch is often advised to stick to the basics.

It is no surprise that the BJP, having hit a rough patch in the Lok Sabha election, decided to revert to its basic playbook - the pro-Hindu card that had transformed it from a two-MP party in 1984 to winning a majority in 2014.

Incidentally, the top two leaders of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Home Minister Amit Shah, had served as presidents of the Gujarat Cricket Association.

The BJP had started its campaign in the present round of assembly elections seeking votes in the name of development, but stopped in its tracks, realising it might once again get them a lukewarm response since people's aspirations are not easy to meet. The party's initial focus on infrastructure projects and welfare schemes failed to generate the expected enthusiasm. The party then unleashed the saffron-clad Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who evoked religious sentiments with his slogan 'Batenge toh Katenge'. Modi took the baton from there, coming up with his own version of Yogi's rhetoric - 'Ek Hain toh Safe Hain'.