Despite getting a severe drubbing in the Karnataka Assembly polls, the BJP is confident that it will win the Lok Sabha polls for the third time in a row.
Karnataka is the lone state in South India where the BJP is considered to be having a strong presence.
The BJP formed the government in the state many times but it had never got a clear mandate in the Assembly polls.
Though the party never got an absolute majority in the state Assembly polls, it was said that the people of Karnataka have opened their windows for the saffron party but are yet to open their doors for it.
Though the BJP had put its best foot forward by campaigning with its most popular face Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other veteran leaders, it suffered a major jolt.
In the polls, the BJP bagged only 66 seats while the Congress won more than double the saffron party - 135 seats. The poll outcome boosted the morale of the Congress workers and even the regional parties which are uniting to take on the Modi government in the 2024 polls have started to realise the significance of the grand old party.
It will be interesting to watch whether the Congress will be able to repeat the results of 2004 in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
It remains to be seen whether Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will be able to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Although the BJP was emphatically defeated in the Assembly polls, its leaders are claiming that it will not have any impact on the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that the BJP will win the Lok Sabha polls for the third time in a row.
"Though the BJP has not performed well in the Karnataka Assembly polls, but that does not mean that it will affect the party's prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," Sarma stated.
Talking to mediapersons, Union Minister Anurag Thakur claimed that only the BJP can ensure good governance at the Centre. Assembly polls are fought on local issues, while the Lok Sabha polls are contested on national issues and the government's policies, he said.
In the coming days, the BJP will try to speed up its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
On the occasion of the Narendra Modi government completing nine years at the Centre, the BJP will run a one-month-long outreach campaign from May 30 to June 30.
Bharatiya Janata Party president J. P. Nadda has asked all party MPs to get feedback from the beneficiaries of the various Central government schemes and convey it to the high command.
Nadda on Friday launched the 'Kamal Mitra' campaign (through which females will be trained about the schemes of the government) to woo women voters, who comprise half of the country's population.
Besides the BJP is also preparing for Assembly elections in five states this year. Of the five, in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP will have direct contests with the Congress and on the basis of the results in these states, it could be said whether the Congress is on the way to revival or the BJP has taken 'revenge' for Karnataka. Of the three states, the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while Madhya Pradesh has a BJP government.
In Telangana, which is also slated to go to the polls this year, its Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is trying to unite the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP is of the view that its 'Mission South India' which has suffered a jolt with the defeat in Karnataka can be made up with a better performance in the Telangana Assembly polls.
It is clear that before the "final match" of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP and the Congress have to fight many "semi-final" matches.