POINT OUT

POINT
OUT
AAP formed the government with support
from the Congress.
The results of four states also give a
clear message. Though local issues and
strong regional leaders like Shivraj Singh
Chouhan, Dr Raman Singh and Vasundhara
Raje gave BJP an upper hand in
these states, there still was an undercurrent
that helped the party in sweeping the
polls. This had surprised many pollsters
and senior leaders. Now, they too admit
the presence of a wave in favour of Modi.
Modi’s public meetings were well attended
in all these states and an analysis
shows that candidates won by huge margins
wherever his meetings were held.
The effect was such that several candidates
in constituencies falling near the
places where he addressed the people
won handsomely.
In Madhya Pradesh, Ratlam has been
a good example. The region has tribal
seats of Jhabua and Alirajpur, which
traditionally have been Congress strongholds.
But after public meetings by Modi
and the Congress vice president Rahul
Gandhi, the result was that the BJP swept
all the seats for the first time.
A senior BJP minister from MP and
Modi supporter summed it up: “Shivraj’s
contribution cannot be ignored in BJP’s
win in MP, but the win turned into a
landslide only due to Modi. BJP candidates,
some really weak ones, won from
constituencies falling in the districts or
divisions where Narendra Modi’s public
meetings were organised. Isn’t that a
Modi wave? ”
In Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje had
admitted that the landslide victory for
BJP in the state was aided by Modi.
“There was a positive sentiment among
the voters about Narendra Modi and that
ensured the victory for BJP candidates
across the state,” she had stated.
Even his critics and die-hard fans
would admit the tenacity of Modi for
having made his way through the rank
and file of the saffron outfit with his development
agenda and image of a strong
leader. His pitch for the Prime Minister’s
post has somewhat been bolstered by a
Gujarat court verdict exonerating him
from the charges of mass massacre in Gujarat
during the 2002 riots.
As BJP gets into the poll mode for
the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it will have
to do much better than what it did in the
November 2013 assembly elections. If it
has to get any close to even thinking of
forming a government at the Centre, the
BJP will have to win comprehensively
in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
COVER STORY GENERAL ELECTION
MODI QUOTE
UNQUOTE
Nation has had enough of Bills,
it now needs a will to act”
You have given 60 years to the
rulers to rule the country, I
request you to give 60 months
to this servant. Country today does
not need rulers but servants”
I have been a Chief Minister
and have administrative
experience, I know the
difference of having a favourable
government at the Centre, when
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime
Minister and a hostile government
with UPA I and II. I can feel the
pain of Chief Ministers and would
like to assure that I will take along
all towards the development of the
country”
TEA BOY CONNECT
Modi has also not let go of the
opportunity to rake up his humble
background and taken a dig at the
Congress for raking up the ‘tea
boy’ issue and thereby connecting
with lakhs of poor and underprivileged
people in the county. Today,
the Congress chief is shielding
her son from directly contesting
against a tea boy, he said, adding
that the fear of defeat was keeping
the mother from pushing her son
to the forefront.
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Goa which are
its strongholds. Besides, it will have to do
well in Maharashtra, a state where it is in
alliance with the Shiv Sena, and in the
Punjab where it has an alliance with the
Akali Dal led by Prakash Singh Badal.
Apart from these states, the BJP will have
to do well in the two big northern states of
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that send 80 and
40 MPs to the Lok Sabha respectively. The
120 seats from these two states are crucial
future prospects for the BJP and the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Despite his public posturing, Narendra
Modi knows well that without getting
a minimum of 200 seats on its own, the
BJP won’t be in a position to form the
government at the Centre. Backing, however,
can come in the form of friends like
Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP (Telugu
Desam Party) in Andhra Pradesh and
some other smaller parties.
His effectiveness in motivating the
people across India to vote for the BJP
is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain
that he has passed his first test towards
the goal with flying colours.
The Modi vision
If he has to get to the Prime Ministerial
seat, Narendra Modi would know
better than all that the BJP will have to do
much more than what they have done in
the four big states in the recent assembly
elections. Besides improving the party
tally in these states, the BJP will have to
do exceedingly well in the two crucial
Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar. It is with this aim that Modi
is targeting the two states and theories
are being floated that Modi might contest
from a Parliamentary constituency in UP.
It is precisely keeping this in mind
that Modi used the platform at the BJP
national executive meet in Delhi to address
party workers and leaders and
turned it into an address to the nation,
throwing light on a gamut of issues and
his vision for the development of the
country. He was apt in saying, “Earlier,
elections were held to uphold the family,
under the shadow of the votebank.
But elections are now being fought on
the plank of development.” He said the
country needed good governance and
delivery.
To the younger audience, he said,
“Brothers, can you imagine 65% of our
population is under 35? India is the youngest
nation in the world and every youth
has been given intelligence and skill. Yet,
the demographic dividend, which could
have become an asset, is a demographic
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FEBRUARY 2014