If the good showing in the Uttar Pradesh mayoral polls and the Maharashtra municipal elections were stray indications of a long-awaited revival, the decisive victories in Punjab and Uttarakhand today have come as a huge morale-booster to the party. The results have convinced both the leadership and the rank and file that the BJP-led NDA is not only on an electoral “come-back trail” but has also succeeded in striking a chord with its traditional votebank on issues such as price rise, terrorism and “minorityism.”

Today’s results, coming on the heels of the Quattrocchi issue that has put new life in the party’s anti-Congress campaign in and outside Parliament, is significant on many counts: ideological, organizational, political and personal.

On the personal — or leadership — front, it has shown that Generation Next has come into its own and despite ego clashes among the younger leaders, collective leadership of a kind has delivered the victories. As party president who has been trying hard to get out of the shadows of L K Advani, the results have come as a shot-in-the arm for Rajnath Singh. If the BJP manages to wrest the Delhi municipal corporation from the Congress and improve its performance in Uttar Pradesh this summer — a distinct possibility in light of the euphoria in the BJP and the despondency in Congress ranks — Rajnath’s position will consolidate even further.

But if Rajnath has reasons to crow, so does Arun Jaitley, who was not too happy with the party chief’s organizational reshuffle that was seen as an attempt to clip the wings of both Jaitley and his friend Narendra Modi. Jaitley has proved yet again that he is the “lucky mascot” of the BJP, adding Punjab to his medal tally that includes Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar. The victory in Punjab is particularly sweet because no one gave the BJP much of a chance in that state. Yet, the BJP’s “strike rate” is far higher than that of the Akali Dal, with even defeated chief minister Amarinder Singh conceding that the Congress managed to defeat the Akalis but lost to the BJP in urban areas.

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