The jostling before seizing the opportunity to land the final knockout punches has begun. The last round of Assembly elections before the Parliamentary elections of 2014 will begin with voting for the first round of polling on November 11 in the BJP-ruled state of Chhattisgarh where a close fight with the Congress has been predicted.
Analysts have questioned the sensibility behind the urgency with which leaders of the BJP have promoted Narendra Modi as the party’s designated Prime Minister and not waited for the assembly elections in the four states where the BJP has major stakes to be over. Without doubt, more than the Modi wave or Modi factor, local issues and local leaders will play pivotal roles in influencing the results of the state polls, which is due to be declared collectively on the following December 8. Leaders like Shivraj Chauhan, Raman Singh, and Vasundhara Raje Scindia among others do not owe their political future to Narendra Modi or hard-core Hindutva of the RSS. But, there is no denying the fact that grand performances by the BJP in the four states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh will set the ball rolling for Modi and the BJP in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections which is due by the early part of 2014.
Another development further boosting the confidence of the BJP is the intra-party tranquility that had set in of late, with many BJP stalwarts who had reacted with tremor at Modi’s elevation in the party’s rank and subsequent anointment as the party’s Prime Minister candidate finally showing sign of acceptance to the pronouncement. Somewhere down the line, his former detractors within the BJP seemed to have understood the inestimable payback the party will reap by promoting the fire-brand Modi and Gujarat model as the new hope of India. Luckily for Modi and the BJP, surveys have indicated that Rahul Gandhi, the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family that dominated Indian politics since its independence, has failed to make much of an impact with the electorates. Furthermore, startled by the rise in the popularity of Modi and set-backs suffered in a series of opinion polls with one even pegging the party to just 102 seats in the Parliament, the Congress has demanded a ban on such opinion polls.
Although, there is plentiful of his critics in the political circle, Modi has risen spectacularly during the last one year. One of the reasons cited for his success is that many voters, particularly the urban youths, believe after nine years of corruption and scandals under the Congress regime, Modi could lead the nation to a radiant path of glory. We have to watch what impact Modi have on the voters and the assembly elections. But one thing is certain, as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had pointed out, even if the effect may not be on the average voters but it is visible in the cadres of the BJP.
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