Patna: The political developments in Karnataka resulting in resignation of two-day-old chief minister BS Yeddyurappa seem to have shaken the confidence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party which claimed no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister till 2024 and was quite confident of Narendra Modi’s victory in the next elections suddenly looks shattered.

The desperation in the BJP camp was clearly visible during the two-day meeting of the Bihar unit of the BJP concluded on Sunday. Quite many top leaders of the BJP attended the meeting held under the chairmanship of state BJP chief Nityanand Rai.

The highlight of the meeting was the leaders’ pledge to ensure return of PM Modi to the throne in the next Lok Sabha polls due early next year. Never in the past four years, the BJP leaders discussed this issue and were confident of Modi’s win in the next elections.

“The meeting decided to re-elect Modi to the post of Prime Minister in the next elections,” state BJP chief Rai told the media after the meeting adding he had asked the leaders to get into the job with this particular aim.

The meeting also chalked out strategy to achieve this task. Under part of this strategy, the party will launch intensive mass contact campaign across the state in the next one fortnight beginning May 26 during which the leaders will make the masses aware about various welfare schemes started by Prime Minister Modi.

In the next phase beginning June 23, the party has planned to launch drive to strengthen the organisation and connect the general masses. The BJP plans to enrol at least 3.1 million families to boost up the organisation at village level keeping in view the next year’s general elections.

“The Karnataka defeat has literally left Modi’s throne in danger. Never in the past, the party looked so worried about the outcome of the next year’s LS polls but for the first time after the Karnataka developments, the BJP leaders have officially taken a pledge to re-elect Modi to this throne. The pledge itself is indicative of the fact that all in not well within the BJP,” commented Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) vice-president Shivanad Tiwari.

The “re-elect-Modi” pledge indeed looks strange given the recent “No PM Vacancy” comments made by the BJP and its allies.

“Now Rahulji (Congress chief Rahul Gandhi) is saying he is ready to become Prime Minister ... he is day-dreaming and congratulations for his beautiful dreams. But there is no vacancy for the PM post till 2024,” was how BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told the media early this month.

BJP’s ally and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan had made similar comments. “There is no vacancy. The NDA will return to power with a majority, and Narendra Modi will have his second term as prime minister,” Paswan told the media on May 14 this year.

He had made similar comments last year too. “People like Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Lalu Prasad (RJD) can never be one. They should stop wasting their time in looking for a prime ministerial candidate. There is no vacancy for PM’s post till 2024,” Paswan had said last year.