|
A CRYING MODI?
WSN Network
 NEW
DELHI: During the campaign, the BJP projected Narendra Modi as its
star campaigner. L K Advani praised him umpteen times, and the BJP
thought in a debate marked by too much talk of development, it can
sell Modi as a Development Messiah. Modi, however, had different
plans. His objective seemed to be to overshadow the debate as well
as Advani. But the BJP, happy with the hordes that Modi attracted,
did not seem to notice that its entire plan of projecting Advani as
a strong leader was going away.
Narendra Modi
had long forgotten to regard the voice of reason emerging from the
secular and civil society activists but now he is facing music from
his own party cadre, and his ears are pained at the shrillness of
the tone.
As BJP leaders
gathered on Monday morning in
Delhi,
Modi seemed to have finally felt the heat. The man who was being
hailed as a possible future prime ministerial candidate had become a
fall guy and cried off that he was being made a scapegoat by some
sections within the party. It is now known that Modi even met some
senior RSS leaders with his angst. Many BJP leaders said the
campaign against Modi is directly connected with the power struggle
among the party’s second-generation leaders in anticipation of the
imminent retirement of the old guard. Many of his colleagues are
wary of his following among the party’s rank and file.
Soon after BJP
president Rajnath Singh announced L.K. Advani’s decision to continue
as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Modi got up and
complained loudly: “The party had engaged my services in the
campaign and I had worked very hard for it. Despite this, some
leaders are planting stories against me. You used my services and
now want to dump me. This is totally unfair and unacceptable.”
He then reeled
off statistics to “substantiate” his claim that the party had done
well in places where he had campaigned. Modi had campaigned
extensively for the BJP in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa,
among other states. The party’s tally in all these states has dipped
below its 2004 levels. In Gujarat, his home base, the BJP could
improve its score by only two.
There have been
media reports comparing this lacklustre performance with Congress
General Secretary Rahul Gandhi’s success in reviving the Congress in
UP and helping engineer the UPA’s return to power.
“Not a single
leader has spoken out against this malicious campaign,” he said, but
declined to name anyone. Rajnath Singh then assured him that the
issue would be taken up during the Chintan Shivir (Introspection
Camp) that the BJP would hold soon. Besides Advani and Singh, senior
BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vijay
Goel and some BJP chief ministers attended the meeting.
20
May 2009
|
Read Also