The grand reception that Narendra Modi got at the BJP national council meeting in Delhi is seen as contrary to the view in certain sections of the party that it should go into the 2014 Lok Sabha polls without projecting anyone as its choice for PM. Many in the party also see it as a warning to those leaders who are opposed to Modi’s projection as the “shadow PM” ahead of the looming contest.
Modi too seemed to relish every bit of the loud adulation. Known for his ability to work the audience, he came to the front of the stage and walked the length from one end to the other with folded hands, soaking in the thunderous rooting. The confident smile looked like an acceptance speech—a clear indication of his willingness to play a role beyond the frontiers of his home state.
In the post-lunch session, Modi stood out for being the only one on the stage who had found time to change into a different attire.
Many in the party feel that the pressure building from the bottom for Modi will render the “to project him or not” debate irrelevant. They appeared vindicated as many of the participants freely declared their support for Modi as if the gag on any discussion on the leadership issue had ceased to exist.
A day after BJP workers virtually anointed him the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi said he would challenge the Congress on the issue of governance and development and called Atal Bihari Vajpayee his role model.
Making what sounded like an “acceptance speech”, Modi focused on the issues of good governance, growth and development to the complete exclusion of Hindutva themes which he symbolizes in popular imagination while exhorting party workers to prepare for the 2014 battle.
The stress on secular issues looked even more conspicuous because of the praise Modi lavished on Vajpayee. He referred to Vajpayee at least five times in his speech, saying the former PM, known for his moderation, was the best representative of the BJP.
Significantly, Vajpayee’s advice to Modi to follow “raj dharma” after the 2002 communal violence had been widely interpreted as a reproach to the CM.
The thrust of the speech, which was applauded by the 5,000 party members at the Talkatora indoor stadium, is significant because of the wariness of other non-Congress parties, including the BJP’s alliance partner JD(U), over supporting Modi because of his “communal” image.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as well as other anti-Congress players like CMs of West Bengal and Odisha, Navin Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee, and Telugu Desam Party which supported Vajpayee, fear that associating with Modi might cost them the support of Muslims.
Modi strengthened the impression that he was trying to live down his persona of a Hindutva hardliner by saying that he had turned the debate on Gujarat into one about the state’s growth under his chief ministership.
In case he was serious about an image makeover, the Gujarat CM must have been encouraged by the response of the audience who filled the stadium to the rafters. While his pull among the ranks have been widely ascribed to his image as a hardliner, the crowd seemed indulgent as Modi tried the maneuver aimed at reaching out to the constituency beyond the faithful.
In fact, the hour-long speech appeared to have a spellbinding effect on party members: possibly an indication that he has the headroom to smoothen what Nitish Kumar once called without mentioning any name, the “rough edges” of his personality.
...If (Pranab) Mukherjee had been successful (as PM) then the worry of Cong was what will happen to the (Gandhi) family. So they put the country in the hands of somebody as a night watchman...Cong is destroying this country like termites The time has come to draw a comparison between Cong and BJP. While BJP is for a mission, Cong is for commission. The contest will be between mission and commission — Narendra Modi
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