Why can't Modi-Rajnath live together?

Well, the time is up for Rajnath Singh one may say. Thakur face of BJP, home minister Rajnath Singh spoke about conspiracy theory that was being hatched to malign him. Bad words were spread about him not by opposition leaders but by party colleagues. This is what Rajnath said in his recent outburst.

What has been written and spoken about in last few days about internecine feud is only reflection of what ails the government setup.

Grapevine is that like Atal, Advani and MMJ trio,will we see Rajnath next going into oblivion. Well, off course not. Not so soon.

Rajnath has no love lost with the PM though this was the best pair which brought BJP to power. This camaraderie seems to be breaking. This relationship seems to have lost its sheen. 

BJP and RSS have taken this seriously as why Rajnath had to break his vow of silence. Was it sudden or premeditated outburst?

Rajnath, who is thakur face of BJP, knows for sure that PM Modi is on a roller coaster. He is in complete control of RSS, BJP and the government. Modi has silenced his opponents, now this is the time to turn to an imaginary enemy, who could be trouble maker for the future.

People are this question in the corridors of power, who could be the imaginary enemy? Any point for guessing?

Rajnath Singh is number two in the government, and, to say the least, attempts are afoot to corner him. That says a lot about the growing tussle within the government.

But this is how system runs. Modi might have become powerful but system doesn’t allow him to become absolutely powerful. There is always an internal resistance under which leader has to perform.

India saw Atal behari Vajpayee and LK Advani working in tandem for almost five decades. Modi and Rajnath can take leaf out the book, which both of them tacitly followed for the longest possible time.

MODI ON A CONSTANT MAKEOVER

Politics is an art of the impossible but in the era of flagging emotions and changing positions, politics has become an art of the possible. Those who had thought that Narendra Modi will be a silly customer in national politics, had no idea that why Modi was a different political creature.

Let’s not forget that he had given up on RSS agenda long back, when he put down his feet and refused to touch Ram mandir issue. Modi was perhaps a lone voice in the BJP, who did this. Modi’s insistence to go to the polls with development agenda had basically no takers within his party.  

Modi is a hugely changed person, who seems to be on a mission makeover. It started on the day when he entered the Parliament premises. Those who had raised doubts over his democratic credentials, had to rethink, repent.

Much before this during BJP parliamentary party meeting, a teary eyed Modi had publicly chided party patriarch L.K Advani for a different reason. 

Modi stole the limelight and the headlines thereafter. There is no comma or full stop after this. With this, Modi won all opposition within his party at least.

Modi’s relentless tirade to win opposition parties' heart continues. If congress thought that Modi will anyway show his high headedness. Perhaps, they were proven wrong. His first speech in the parliament did the trick. Even opposition leaders were seen thumping they desk after his speech. Some of them admitted that Modi’s speech was "awesome". His announcement that he will not move an inch without the opposition cut the ice.

The shrill tone used for Sonia Gandhi during the election campaign was completely missing. Modi was seen with folded hands before Sonia. Also his political bête noir Rahul found a warm handshake from Modi, which was not expected by the Congress. 

Modi did not allow victory rally to happen after the historic win, was testimony to the fact that Modi remains grounded. He wants to do away with traditional politics, in true sense of term. But how will he do it, when will he do it, remains to be seen.

    

In Parliament, English is not so cool…

Watching Uma Bharati, Sushma Swaraj, Harshvardhan and Sumitra Mahajan taking oath in Sanskrit might have surprised many. However, it was a great treat to watch when all other regional languages got its due, while MPs took oaths in their mother tongues. In a way, this opportunity was a great equalizer. We could not have imagined this in UPA regime. This is a great departure from the egalitarian tradition of Nehruvian era, where English was supposed to be the language of the elite. Nehru used to take pride, in the way he used to carry himself. Not surprising, Hindi and other regional languages were seen as uncool and not so modern. With Modi as Prime Minister, things will change. He takes pride in conversing in regional languages, which we have seen during Lok Sabha election campaign. Modi is just not good at English and he would do much harm if he talks to world leaders in English. Modi is not a Hindi chauvinist, but his love for Gujarati is also well known. We got the reflection of our linguistic diversity in Parliament today. Hope it further gets boost in months and years to come.

Kejriwal has promises, Modi has more...

Narendra Modi and Arvind kejriwal seem to have entered into a pact with common man; all for political purposes. Kejriwal stormed into the Indian political theatre with array of promises, decimating Congress in Delhi, keeping BJP away from power and emerging as a third force. Delhi proved to be a great laboratory for Kejriwal, where he found it easy to draw people from the comfort of their drawing rooms to the dust and grime of streets of Delhi. But forget not, these “Aam Aadami” doesn’t belong to anybody; if somebody thought so. Aam adami is one simple Indian, who wants job, wants no corruption, wants better law and order, and wants good roads, regular electricity and no price rise. So he is a breed, who is never satisfied. Political pundits have no doubts that all AK could achieve was only because the promises he made, appealed to Aam aadami. While Narendra Modi came onto national scenario with a reputation of being a deliverer, performer and hard task master. He proposed to the nation, a great “Gujarat Model” of development. This model was hailed by friend and hated by his foes in equal proportion. After devastating earthquake of 2001, Gujarat delivered and made a new Gujarat. This was the time when it was believed that Gujarat was a lost hope. Modi proved himself. He delivered results, delivered hopes. Most importantly, he sold his dreams and marketed Gujarat well. Kejriwal proved to be chatterer, who talked, promised a lot but when it came to delivery, he “simply ran away.” Kejriwal’s adversaries gave him a sobriquet of AK-49, for running government in Delhi for 49 days. India has been living on promises year after year. Politicians make promises, do not fulfill it. This has become a set norm. Kejriwal has promises. Modi has more than promises. Rahul has hopes. India will have to chose between them.

winning minds, winning votes

Somebody has lost and somebody has won it already. Voting is not just about winning margins, it is also about the victory of minds as well. This is like entering the battlefield with right frame of mind. Before 2014, Indian polls used to be almost bipolar, for all practical purposes but this election is different because voters want clarity. There want clarity of decision, clarity of choice and clarity of understanding. This time around, we are forced to talk about a new entrant Aam Adami Party, which changed the discourse of Lok Sabha election 2014. Congress was blamed for the birth of AAP. It was termed as B- team of the Congress. Much before the poll dates were announced, UPA-2 had already turned into a passive mode. Congress lost fighting spirit, which became evident as many bigwigs of Congress party left the battle field much to the chagrin of Sonia Gandhi. Worse, PM Dr Man Mohan Singh went into political oblivion, his posters were not part of the Congress campaign, his achievements if any were not talked about. This was misleading, discouraging for the party workers. BJP PM aspirant Narendra Modi emerged on political scene as an assertive, aggressive and bold leader, who talked about development and development. As Congress wanted to pin him down on 2002 Gujarat riots, Modi went ahead and talked about complete metamorphosis. Modi appeared confident. Rahul, the congress nominee for 2014, for most of the time remained disconnected, submissive. Congress workers complained that Rahul never appeared as one preparing for 2014 elections. Modi is accused of not taking other BJP leaders together but one should understand that Modi has always defied the brand of traditional politics. Results would tell whether people liked his style of politicking.

The new time and new order

The old gives way to new. This is the new mantra of this political season. Top two political parties, Congress and BJP have started practicing this impossible act, with great success. Though there is little heartburn here and there. First the BJP; Narendra Modi, the party's star nominee for the top post, has brought the party from the sidelines of obscurity to the national debate. He has made BJP a formidable force, singlehandedly. Though, it's not been easy task. Initially, he had to battle within the party. His position was much like of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who captained a team having lot of star players.  Lal Krishna Advani, the Prime Minister in waiting, has been a constant source of headache for the party. With a mass following like his, and half a century old relationship with the party, handling him was always a tough ask. Modi was attacked left, right and centre by his adversaries from inside and outside the party. And that was expected too. Murli manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Sushma swaraj had a different world view about party and affairs of ticket distribution. It seemed that BJP was very not respectful to there elders. But at the same time, the natural corollary was to sideline all voices of dissent, that poses trouble to Modi. If NDA comes to power, Modi wants a situation, where he remains the only source of power. Power command remains with him. Probably, party was thinking about the post election scenario. That's is what is debated over the past few weeks. Now the Congress, where change of wind is all evident. Shift of power has already taken place. Sonia Gandhi, has slowly and surely brought Rahul in the position of command, where he calls the shots. If tickets of distribution is any indication, Rahul Gandhi has come of age. He has deftly sidelined all the old guards. He has made them contest elections, knowing fully well that they will loose. So that they can bring his loyalists on the key position. That's a wise move indeed, given the fact that congress is facing incumbency factor after remaining in power for two consecutive terms. Change is order of the day. If both the principle parties don't change, it will surely loose the ground. Nice that they have woken up.

The original poster boy relents

The eternal charioteer of the BJP, octogenarian L.K. Advani was at it again. The original iron man of BJP shows no sign of caving in. We must try and understand why he behaves like an obstinate political nonconformist, hell bent on taking the power that be in the organization.Narendra Modi once Advani’s protégée are not on good terms, at least now. This was the last chance for Advani to show his mettle, which ultimately melted much before it could yield any surprise. Gandhinagar is one Lok sabha seat, which Advani always nurtured and remained attached to it since 1991, till famously ideological split was surfaced during Modi’s elevation as Prime Ministerial candidate. Advani had almost quit all party posts opposing this move. Party prevailed and stopped him from taking such drastic steps. Everything was going as planned by the party’s spin doctors till Advani started showing discomfiture. He put his feet down and wanted to walk away from Modi’s shadow. Probably he thought Madhya Pradesh was a good bet for him, where in Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s company he would feel at ease. What happened in last two weeks, which changed Advani’s heart? On 28th Februray, when Advani visited Gandhinagar, he had told the media that he would again contest from Gandhinagar. But in this period came 4-5 lists of candidates and Advani found his name missing. Advani thought it right to make his point and told his party that he would like to contest from Bhopal. That unnerved the party and RSS. It was time for them to realize that Advani had caught them unawares.  More than party, Modi was more concerned that Advani’s walking away will send wrong signals. Sangh impressed upon Advani and conveyed that his contesting from Bhopal is of no consequence. Modi is BJP Prime ministerial candidate and hailed by the cadre as last hope for the party. Party’s assertion that there would be no softening of stand once decision is taken; Advani had no option but to cave in. May this step of the party be seen as Advani’s last ditch effort to save his position inside the party apparatus.