The Gujarat obsession of some section of secular media has done a world of good for Modi. He has been elevated so much that the BJP leadership thought it prudent to announce LK Advani as its Prime Ministerial candidate in haste. The growing mass appeal of Modi, transcending Gujarat borders, might have forced BJP central leadership to act in such a way so that Modi is confined largely to the state politics.
Rajnath Singh, the present BJP president, does not seem to be in good terms with Modi and Arun Jaitley, who were excluded from the apex parliamentary body of the party sometime ago. Jaitley, suave and articulate, was divested of his responsibility of party spokesperson also. It was a bizarre decision, as the party is always held in suspicion and Jaitley had been defending party moves very successfully for years.
Modi might have inflamed communal hatred and riots but that is yet to be proved in the court. If he were found guilty, he would be punished as per the law of the land. But the double speak of the secular parties who are desperate to show their secular credentials only to garner a certain section of votes did not go well with the masses in Gujrat and elswhere. Had the Congress and other secular parties shown equal concern for those affected by the carnage in Godhra then the message would have been delivered clearly. But here the impression was that all these parties were shying away from even mentioning the plight of these families.
Congress needs to change with time otherwise all these years of carefully crafted policy and planning to hand over the crown to Rahul Gandhi will go haywire. The best way is to showcase the achievements of its ruling states. In absence of any major achievement to sell, people would go for the party, which would promise to deliver.Leaders like Digvijay Singh seem never to stop politicking ‘congress style’ and as a result, the party would shrink further and further. The best way forward would be to unleash the young Turks and the people would respond favourably.
There is an undercurrent flowing across the country and that is the yearning for development. Those who seem to be following aggressive developmental zeal would attract this huge chunk of urban voters.Hopefully, the congress will introspect and effect the course correction even now. The country needs stronger congress otherwise all those parties would come to power which have no other policies than spreading the caste hatred in the name of social or equitable justice.
