In a calculated attempt to cultivate an atmosphere and try and get about two dozen seats in this fashion, the BJP has resorted to the policy of indiscriminate inductions into its fold. ... Although the BJP leaders claim that there is a "pro-BJP; wave waiting to be created", such inductions also indicate that the party is attempting to shore up its flanks and numbers to deal with a situation in case the anticipated "groundswell of support" does not materialise. In the process, the party has preferred to gloss over the rumblings that have begun within the organisation at the new comers striking it rich where an assured ticket is concerned, while those who nave put in a life-time's efforts are being side-lined. The implications of the dilution in ideology and image are also being considered hazardous by this section.

Leaders consider it an imperative part of the strategy to achieve three broad objectives.

The first is to score a psychological victory with the "decimation" and "disintegration" of other political parties ... and contrast it with the "rapid growth" and popularity of the BJP. The inductions would also signed a burial of political untouchability ...

Secondly ... induction of such leaders would not only help the party add these seats to its kitty but could also carry influence in neighbouring constituencies and fetch them additional seats ..

(Aptly) the BJP views as the effect of the induction of Muslim leaders like Aslam Sher Khan (Madhya Pradesh) or Ayub Khan (Rajasthan) with considerable interest. Clearly diluting its hardline stance on issues that could inflame Muslim passions - Ayodhya, Article 370 of the Constitution or Uniform Civil Code - the BJP is, in a painstaking exercise, desperately trying to signal its willingness to accommodate them.