| Published on 10-12-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1360 times |
| A Double-edged sword for BJP called Narendra Modi |
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Written by
Girish Nikam |
After having spent three days in Gujarat, one does not get the feeling that there is an election going on in which two national parties are daggers drawn. The most oft-heard voices in many parts of the State, is, "it is not BJP versus Congress here, it is Narendra Modi versus Congress". And indeed it is, and that should be sending some major warning signals to the Central leadership of the BJP.
The newspapers here is full of stories of Congress leaders from Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Rahul Gandhi to even Digvijay Singh and Rajesh Khanna campaigning all over the State. But as far as the BJP is concerned, it is a "one man show". It is Modi and Modi and Modi, all along. One BJP worker even quipped, "Modi is the entire cricket team of 11 players, all the remaining leaders are 12 th man and extras".
In fact a senior BJP General Secretary the other day when asked where he will be campaigning in Gujarat, wrinkled his nose, looked at the roof and said, "I don't know". Even the tallest among the physically fit leaders of the party, L.K.Advani has been left spending more time in Delhi than in Gujarat so far.
The crowds here wants Modi and only Modi, is the excuse being touted by the party functionaries. And no wonder leaders who are much in demand when an election is held in other parts of the country are now finding themselves cooling their heels, and waiting for some work.
It is strange that such a thing has come to pass in a party, which till not too long back used to pride itself on the "collective leadership", and attack Congress as a party of sycophants worshipping the Gandhi family leaders. Being a party which has mastered the art of double standards, it did not take long before it forgot all that it had held so dear for so many decades, right from its Jan Sangh days, and promptly catapulted Atal Behari Vajpayee to a demi-god status. It even profited from it enormously by winning the 1999 lok sabha election solely on the basis of it.
But never before in the history of the BJP and its earlier avatar, Jan Sangh, has there been a leader in a State, who has so successfully and deliberately managed to over-shadow all the national leaders and virtually take them for granted even during an election.
What does the growth of the Modi cult mean to the BJP in the coming days? The cult following is unmistakable. Where else in this country have we seen manufacturing masks of a political leader becoming an industry?
It is exactly this cult following which he has carefully cultivated with his macho, care-a-hoot, "nationalist" image that he has given for himself, that has driven most of the senior leaders of the party in Gujarat either out of the party or forced them to adopt a neutral stance. The party leadership at the Centre has been able to do little to end this impasse and have stood as helpless by-standers as the Modi juggernaut rode roughshod over everyone.
The fear and apprehension in the minds of the BJP leaders at the Centre is almost palpable, when they talk in private. What will happen to them, if Modi returns to power in Gujarat? For somebody like Advani who was responsible for picking up this reticent, backroom operator from the RSS, and pitchfork him into the Chief Minister's chair, it will be a mixed bag of emotions. Still nursing a shot at the Prime Ministerial chair, Advani should know by now that if Modi comes back to power in Gujarat, his chances to occupy that chair will dim further.
Modi has therefore become a double-edged sword for the BJP--- the best among them to take on the Congress and other rivals and at the same time, one who will ensure the end or at least marginalization of the careers of many of his own party leaders. The party therefore finds itself quietly acquiescing to all his whims and fancies, even as his popularity soars among the rank and file of the party. As far as his image in Gujarat is concerned, it is clearly evident----- either he is loved, admired and worshipped or hated, feared and denigrated. There is no one who you can find through the length and breadth of this State, who are anywhere in between.
Even Advani at the height of his popularity during the Rath Yatra(original one in 1990) nor Vajpayee during his Prime Ministership, enjoyed/suffered such an image. Even they had not dared their ideological fellow-travellers like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS, the way Modi has dared to and even sideline them.
The party therefore now finds itself in untested territory more and more, and many will be waiting for the results of the Gujarat elections as or rather more anxiously then even the Congress leaders. The big question they ask themselves in private is how to deal with this man with almost megalomaniacal qualities, especially if he wins the elections in Gujarat. Will the party become his personal handmaiden? Will they all become irrelevant and he will become the kingmaker and perhaps the king too, as he is already in Gujarat.
It is a disturbing thought for many of them, who are not comfortable with the radical ways of Modi. The best result for them is where BJP comes back to power in the State, but with just a narrowest of narrow majorities. That would ensure that he contains his dictatorial ways and is forced to take everyone along.
A defeat for Modi would certainly keep the careers of many of these leaders in the BJP going, but it would give the Congress a great moral boost and that would put an end to the hopes of the BJP of a national revival for some more years. Modi would be contained but so would the party's growth too! It is ironical that a national party which ruled for over six years just till the other day now finds itself completely at the mercy of a state satrap, whose victory will be a threat while his defeat will be a disaster for the party. |
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