BJP's plank is that there is only one mass leader, PM Narendra Modi, and votes should be sought only in his name, at least at the pan state level.
Despite the BJP's popularity at the national level, it faces anti-incumbency at the state level.
The BJP has won only 2 big states on its own in the last 5 years, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, without any pre- or post-poll alliances.
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The ongoing Karnataka assembly elections show that there is enough anti-incumbency on the ground, not the pro-incumbency the BJP would like to project.
The BJP tends to prefer chief ministers who are too low-key to be mass leaders.
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For voters, state elections are an important avenue to let off the anti-incumbency steam.