The tug of war within the BJP over Narendra Modi vs Advani may have headlines and given sufficient fodder for playing up things with a lot of spice and masala for over last 6 days. But that should not be read as a big source of cheer for the Congress party because the Modi Machine is now going to be more deadly and diabolical and the Congress party poll managers and spin doctors would have to think out of the block to outsmart, outwit and outmaneuver Modi at each and every step henceforth.
Modi emerging as the Chairman of the BJP’s campaign committee for 2014 Lok sabha polls is not only going to divide BJP from within, it would also have a disastrous impact on the chances of the Congress in the coming days because his style of politics is more dangerous than others. It is also true that not all top leaders in BJP are happy with Modi’s alleviation because they know once the Modi juggernaut rolls, it would end up crushing and brushing many high and mighty on the way.
Modi has proved that time and again in Gujarat and those who came on his wrong side know how dangerous he can be. Be that kanshi ram Rana, Shnakarsinh Waghela or Keshubhai patel, they all know that Modi would create the same kind of ‘machine’ in Delhi once he establishes himself there and hence, no one would like to take him head on for the fear of a brutal reprisal.
The results of latest bye polls on six seats, two for the Lok Sabha Porbandar and Banaskantha) and four for the state assembly (Dhoraji, Jetpur, Limbdi and Morva Hadaf ) which were earlier held by the Congress, clearly showed the might and supremacy of the Modi machine . Modi once again succeeded in blanking out the Gandhis and their underlings who were only days ago crowing about how their win in Karnataka heralded some sort of Congress revival.
The naked truth is that the Congress party appears to have meekly surrendered itself to Modi yet again. The Congress President appears to have been convinced by her advisors that Gujarat state had become totally communal and there was no point in resisting the mindset of Gujaratis. It was last 28 years (1985) ago that the Congress had won a majority in Gujarat and it is hard to belive that the Congress has been losing there because of its secular agenda or by the dexterous manipulations of a few Congress leaders who didn’t want to win the State .
Gujarat for the Congress party has been like a thorn in the flesh and worst still, there is no serious attempt to re-discover and redeem itself. What had baffled many political pundits is how the Congress party has allowed itself to become irrelevant because of the game played by a few unscrupulous leaders.
The bigger question is what the congress party could do if the Modi Machine goes on to conquer other areas on the same plank and promises. According to a few BJP insiders, Modi can go to any extent to finish his political rivals and that could include the Congress as well. “ Modi tantra “, said a very senior BJP leader “is a very dangerous trend because it does not allow its rivals to survive. This has not happened in any political party till now”
Modi has very smartly demonstrated the ground swell of support that he clearly generates from BJP party cadre across the country, which has forced even the RSS to sing his virtues.
The second is his sudden rise in acceptability outside of his party sympathizers. He is now being seen as a ‘rising sun’ by even sections of his erstwhile critics who have blasted Advani for causing obstructions to his elevation. But beneath the hype and euphoria around Modi’s elevation is the stark reality that the party’s organizational health is bad. Advani’s much talked about conditional nod to Modi’s anointment represents just a fraction of the problems that plagues the party. Beyond his charismatic appeal to the workers and middle class, Modi will now have to work on many more challenges to make the BJP a battle worthy machine.
The Congress party needs to worry Modi’s rise and March to Delhi for a variety of reasons.
One, Modi has already earned his place as the “sharpest shooter of BJP” against the congress party. Not only he is a very powerful and well-prepared, he chooses his subject and targets equally carefully and meticulously. During the last 23 month, every comment of Modi has hit national headlines and a few TV channels have been carrying them for over 48 hours ad nauseum. As compared to him, No Congress leader, however high and mighty has been able to garner so much of space either in print or electronic media. As much as it can touted as Modi’s charisma, it could as well be interpreted as the Congress party’s failure to match up to Modi’s media management genius.
Two, Modi’s inner core team of strategists appears to have been of higher quality and class than that of the Congress party. Apart from the selection of right words and issues, his team also makes sure that Modi does have good appearance; he does not fumble and is able to connect with those with whom he interacts. But Congress leaders and spokespersons have been suffering from the habit of ’foot in mouth disease’ and in their sheer enthusiasm to protect the Nehru-Gandhi family, they have gone on committing blunders and become the butt of joke in public view.
For example, Rahul Gandhi’s much hyped India being a “ beehive “remark was turned into a Bharat Mata versus Madhumakhi Ka Chatta by Modi. In the same way, he punched holes in UPA’s Bharat Nirman ads punchline “Mera Haq” (my right) into Mera Shaq (I suspect). Earlier, he lampooned at the Prime Minister calling him “ Maun Mohan Singh”. People remember him with such quips and quotes and he finds immediate connectivity with the masses. But so far, the Congress party has not been able to prepare anyone to take on him in the same way.
Three, Modi carefully chooses his targets. He has been attacking on the Prime minister and the Gandhi family because he knows that only these people would evoke instant reaction and churning at various quarters. He does not even react on the attacks by any other Congress leader because he does not consider them worth any value, be that Digvijaya Singh or any other. He has been very blunt and curt and does not mind even hitting his enemy below the belt. Modi had called Rahul gandhi “ a fish in the aquarium’. He called the Congress President as the “Mother of Rome Rajya in India”. It is because he knows how to draw his rivals into the battleground of barbs and jibes.
But the Congress party has not yet been able to pay him back in the same coin even once despite having a battery of experts and media advisors. The fact is that not even the combined might of 36 AICC Spokespersons is good enough to match Modi in his rhetoric and quips and quotes.
Fourth, the BJP always standsby Modi come what may but the Congress does not. The biggest victim of such syndrome has been Digvijaya Singh because he has been more often used as the “vent’ of the party because of his often outlandish and bizarre comments. The Congress party stood by him whenever it hit the target but it disassociated with him when it found that his Statements were becoming embarrassing. That is why Digvijaya Singh is not being taken by the media seriously now.The latest example is that of Union Minister Jairam Ramesh who called Modi ‘the first authentic fascist’. But he became the target of his own party colleagues more than BJP and Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi went to the extent of saying that “if Jaiaram is so scared of Modi, then he should go and join BJP”.
Fifth, the best part of Modi machine is its media management. It is here that the Congress party finds itself behind by miles. Modi has made no bones about the fact that he has been assisted by American Media Company called APCO for his media make over and the ‘management of all events related to him”. But the approach of the Congress party has been rather heckneyed and sometimes even conservative. No wonder then, the space devoted on Modi alone by both print and electronic media is more than the combined space occupied in these two mediums by all congress leaders including the Prime Minister. The moral of the story for media is: “Modi is on sale while the Congress is stale”. The sooner Congress managers understand it the better.
Sixth, Modi has been equally successful in rallying the support of the majority of media houses and corporates behind him. Right from Ambanis to Adani, Godrej, Ruia and many others have already started pitching for Modi as the next Prime Minister of the country. But the Congress party, despite its govt in power, has not been able to get that kind of corporate backing and corporate ad spend.
Seventh, Modi and his team has already drafted out its future road map and there is every indication that the ‘Modi machine’ is going to hit the Congress party and in particular, the Gandhi family’ with more exposures and allegations. But there seems to be no clarity in the Congress party on the precise strategy to checkmate Modi. The Congress leadership still seems to be in a state of stupor and it does not wish to give a free hand to those who can take Modi head on. It has not been able to prepare a shield to ward off Modi barbs. It should have drafted Shankarsinh waghela and Madhusudan Mistry only for this purpose because they know his backside well and they could puncture all his claims. !!
The congress party would have to re-cast and re-mould its strategy through a carefully calculated and calibrated strategy in the coming days if it wants to save itself from NAMO-NIA. It has to 1)prepare Rahul Gandhi hard to come out with full guns blazing and match him everywhere in a tit for tat battle because that is what Indian voters have always been fond of 2) to prepare a special team to keep track of Modi’s omissions and commissions and hit him where it hurts the most 3) take corrective steps in Congress ruled steps by galvanizing the party cadres and changing the guards including PCC presidents 4) and prepare a comprehensive road map at state levels to counter the Modi menace. Only then it would be in a position to contain Modi juggernaut.
(Posted on June 15, 2013 @ 10.30pm)
(Ajay Jha is a Commentator and Independent Writer and Analyst on Politics, security and Economy of South And West Asia. His email id is: Ajay N Jha <ajayjha30@gmail.com>)
